Stem  t^e  feifirar^  of 

(ptofeBBot  T»tmam  Otiffer  (pajton,  ©.©.,  &&.©. 

(J}re0enfe^  6l?  (gire.  (Jpaxfon 

to  t^e  £t6rar^  of 

Qptinceton  t^eofogicaf  JJemiMrg 


SABBATH  EVENING  READINGS 


ON    THE 


NEW    TESTAMENT. 


' BY    THE 


EEV.  JOHS  CUMMISG,  D.D.,  F.E.S.E., 

MINISTER  OP  THE  SCOTTISH  NATIONAL  CHURCH,  CROWN  COORT,  COTENT  GARDEN,  LONDOX 


ST.    MATTHEW 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  JOHN  P.  JEWETT  AND   COMPANY. 

CLEVELAND,    OHIO: 

JEWETT,  PROCTOR,  AND  WORTIIINGTON. 

NEW    YORK  :     SHELDON,    LAMPORT    AND    BLAKEMAN. 

1855. 


CAMBRIDGE  : 
AtLEN  AND  PARNHAM,  STERE0TYPEB3  AND  PIUNTEBS. 


PREFACE. 


The  first  volume  of  these  Sabbath  Evening  Read- 
ings is  now  before  the  public.  The  Author  is  truly- 
thankful  at  hearing  of  the  very  extensive  demand  for 
the  Weekly  Numbers  of  which  it  is  composed.  He 
has  made  additions  to  the  expositions  larger  and 
more  numerous  than  he  first  intended,  but  these  are 
calculated,  he  believes,  to  impart  additional  instruc- 
tion, interest,  and  light. 

These  comments  are  slightly  critical,  but  suf- 
ficiently explanatory  of  difficult  passages  to  enable 
the  ordinary  reader  to  ascertain  with  the  least  possi- 
ble obstruction  the  mind  of  the  Spirit.  They  may 
prove  useful  to  schools.  Scripture  readers,  families 
far  off  from  an  edifying  and  instructive  ministry,  to 
travellers,  and  many  others,  who  have  neither  time, 
nor  talent,  nor  taste  to  investigate  learned  and  elab- 
orate works.      The   reason   why  these   expositions, 


IV  PREFACE. 

and  those  that  will  follow,  appear  in  numbers,  is  the 
Author's  desire  to, reach  and  benefit  the  poor. 

The  Readings  on  Mark  succeed  these  on  Mat- 
thew, and  when  complete  will  form  another  small 
volume. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Page 
Old  and  New  Testament  —  The  Gospels  —  Apocryphal  Gospels 
—  Matthew's  Gospel  —  Prefix  Saint  —  Language  of  this  Gos- 
pel —  Inspiration  —  Matthew's  Gospel  for  the  Jews  —  Geneal- 
ogy of  Jesus  —  Birth  of  Jesus  —  The  Virgin  Mother    ...       1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Introduction  —  The  Star  —  The  Magi  —  Herod  —  Synod  —  Mas- 
sacre of  Innocents  —  Rachel's  Sorrow  —  The  Sinfulness  of 
the  Human  Heart  in  its  Treatment  of  the  Saviour     ....      7 

CHAPTER  III. 

John  the  Baptist  —  His  Mission,  Repentance  —  Reign  of  Christ  — 
Hebrew  and  Greek  Names  —  Deity  in  Humanity  —  Baptist's 
Food  and  Clothing  —  Baptism  —  Private  Communion — Bap- 
tism of  Jesus —  Descent  of  Spirit — Trinity 13 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Temptation  —  First  and  Second  Adam  —  Jesus  led  into  the 
Desert — Satan's  Suggestions  —  Our  Shield  and  Sword  — 
Honor  of  Scripture —  Call  of  Peter  and  Andrew  —  Of  Zebe- 
dee's  Children  —  Synagogues  and  Christian  Churches  —  Pa- 
tristic Usages  —  Texts  —  Healing  and  Teaching  —  Demoniacs     23 

CHAPTER  V. 

Sermon  on  the  Mount  —  The  Salt  of  the  Earth  —  Living  to  God 
—  New  Testament  the  Fulness  of  the  Old  —  Righteousness  of 
Pharisees  —  Law  of  God  reaches  Motives  and  Feelings  — 
Quarrels  —  Seventh  Commandment  —  Oaths  —  Sacrifices  — 
Alms 32 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Springs  of  Morality  —  Motives  —  Prayer  —  Our  Father  —  Primi- 
tive "Worship  —  Amen  —  Fasting  —  Insurance  —  Cares      .     .    42 


VI  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Inspired  Teaching  —  Judging  —  Season  for  Every  thing — Prayer 

—  Grand  Social  Maxim  — The  Way  to  Heaven — False  Teach- 
ing—  Tests  of  Character  —  The  liock  the  only  Safe  Founda- 
tion—  Authorized  Teaching 52 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Popularity  of  our  Lord's  Teaching  —  Leprosy  Healed  —  A  Sol- 
dier's Servant  —  The  Last  Festival  —  Peter's  Mother-in-Law 

—  Following  Christ  Jesus  on  Shipboard  —  Demoniacs  —  The 
Demon  and  the  Swine 61 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  City  of  Jesus  —  The  Palsied  —  The  Sin  Forgiver,  and  the 
Healer  of  Disease  —  Popularity  —  Call  of  Levi  —  The  Friend 
of  Publicans  and  Sinners — Fasting  —  Wine  and  Teetotalism 

—  The  Maid  Restored  —  Demoniacs  —  The  Harvest  and 
Reapers 71 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Twelve  —  Learning  —  The  Ministry  —  The  Laborer  and  his 
Hire  —  The  Limits  of  the  Apostles'  Diocese  —  The  Samari- 
tans —  Miracles  —  Persecution  —  Inspired  Oratory  —  God's 
Care  of  his  Ambassadors  —  The  Sword  Unsheathed  through 
Christianity  —  Bearing  the  Cross 81 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Message  of  the  Baptist  to  Jesus  —  Credentials  of  Messiah  — 
Character  of  John  the  Baptist  —  Elijah  —  Hearers  —  National 
Responsibility  —  The  "  Wise  and  Prudent"  —  Babes  —  Their 
Privilege  —  Invitation 90 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  hungry  Disciples  eat  Corn  —  The  Pharisees  cavil — Reply 
of  Jesus  —  Sabbath-healing  —  Crystal  Palace  — Long  Hours 

—  Convocation  —  Priest,  Prince,  and  People  —  Blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  Spirit  —  Dislodging  Evil  by  Good  —  Virgin 
Mary 98 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
Myths,  Fables,  Allegories,  and  Parables  —  The  Ancient  Teacher 

—  The  Seedsman  of  Heaven  —  Various  Soils  —  Varied  Har- 
vests — Tares  and  Wheat  —  Mustard  Seed  —  Leaven  —  Home 
Renown lU 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Baptist's  Martyrdom  —  Popularity  of  the  Gospel  —  Feeding 
Five  Thousand  —  Miracles  —  The  Storm  at  Sea  —  Fears  and 
Misapprehensions — Peter  Sinking  —  Jesus  enters  the  Ship, 
and  there  is  a  Calm  —  Normal  and  Abnormal 122 


CONTENTS.  TH 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Cavilling    Scribes  —  Tradition  —  Wills    and    Property  —  The 
Heart  Reader  —  Hj'pocrisy  —  Eating  with  Unwashen  Hands  — 
Women  of  Canaan,  or  JBelieving  Prayer  —  Resurrection  — 
Feeding  the  Multitude 130 

CHAPTER    XVI. 
Dissatisfaction  of  the  Sadducees  —  A  Sign  from  Heaven  —  Signs 
of  the  Times  —  Heart  and  Creed  —  Carnal  Misinterpretations 
—  Individuality  of  Gospel  —  Peter  and  his  Successors  —  Self- 
denial  —  The  Soul's  Worth  146 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Transfiguration 160 

CHAPTER  XVII.    (Continued.) 
The  Glory  and  the  Cloud  —  The  Voice  of  Jesus  the  Beloved  — 
Hear  Him 174 

CHAPTER  XVII.   {Continued.} 
Coming  of   Elijah  —  A  Father's    Prayer  —  Lunacy  —  Satan's 
Mimicrv  —  Ignorance  of   the  Apostles  —  An  Ecclesiastical 
Tax   / 188 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Dispute  about  Supremacy  —  A  Little  Child  —  Offences  —  Guar- 
dian Angels  —  Lost  Orb  —  Tell  it  to  the  Church  —  Forgive- 
ness     195 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Popnliirity  of  Truth  —  Divorces  —  Cln-ist  answers  from  Scrip- 
ture —  God's  Toleration  of  Evil  —  Babes  broug:ht  to  Jesus  — 
The  Rich  Young  Man —  Sacrifices  for  Christ,  and  Reward     .  211 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Householder  —  Short  Hours  — The  Sabbath— The  Called 
and  Chosen  —  A  Mother  and  her  Sons  —  Baptism  —  Blind 
Way-side  Beggars 224 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Prophecy  Fulfille-d  minutely  —  Popular  Welcome  —  Holy  Places 
- —  The  Hosanna  of  Children  —  The  Fig-tree  Curse  —  Au- 
thority—  The  Vineyard  —  The  Husbandman's  Interest  in  it  .  245 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Great  Feast- The  Invited  — The  Despisers 256 

CHAPTER  XXIL    {Co7itinued.) 
The  Unworthy  —  The  Wedding  Robe— The  Sadducees  —  The 
Resurrection  —  A  Snare  laid 260 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Solemn  Traths  —  Hypocrisy  —  Moses'  Seat  —  Apostolic  Succes- 
sion—  Phylacteries — Pride  —  The  Keys  — Mediajval  Copy  of 
,    Pharisees  —  Oaths  —  The  Madiais  —  Mistranslation      .     .     .  274 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Importance  of  this  Chapter  —  Judea  —  The  Temple  —  Jews  — 
America  —  The  Abomination 297 

CHAPTER  XXIV.    (Continued.) 
Sabbath  Day  —  Warnings  —  Antichrist  —  Signs  in  Last  Days  — 
Proof  of  Christ's  Advent  —  Budding  of  the  Fig-tree  —  This 
Generation  —  State  of  World  before  the  Advent 302 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  Parable  of  the  Ten  Virgins 311 

CHAPTER  XXV.    {Continued.) 
The  Parable  of  the  Talents  —  The  two   great  Divisions  —  The 
Heathen  —  Sufferers  —  Heaven  and  Hell 317 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

The  Passover  —  Enmity  of  Priests  —  Precious  Perfume  poured 
on  the  Head  of  Jesus  —  Rich  and  Poor  —  Pro.J)hccy  of  Be- 
trayal —  The  Lord's  Supper  —  Transubstantiation  —  The 
Agony  — Prayer 332 

CHAPTER  XXVI.   [Continued.) 
Peter's  Pali  — Sin— Danger  —  Duty  —  Repentance  —  Restoration  351 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Remorse  of  Judas  —  His  only  Consolation  —  The  Purchase 
of  the  Potter's  Pield  —  Jesus  before  Pilate  —  Barabbas  pre- 
ferred to  Jesus  —  Dream  of  Pilate's  Wife  —  Pilate's  Con- 
science and  Course  —  Inscription  on  the  Cross  —  Death  of  the 
Great  Sacrifice  —  The  Grave  that  will  give  up  no  Dead      .     .  363 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

The  Resurrection  —  The  Sabbath  —  Misrepresentations  of  Scribes, 
and  Pharisees,  and  Soldiers,  sifted  and  shown 388 

CHAPTER  XXVIII.    [Continued.) 
The  Master's  Presence 395 

CHAPTER  XXVIII.    [Continued.) 
The  Minister's  Dutv 404 


SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 


EXPOSITION  OF  MATTHEW  I. 

OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENT  —  THE  GOSPELS — APOCHRYPHAL  GOS- 
PELS—  aiATTHEW'S  GOSPEL  —  PREFIX  SAINT — LANGUAGE  OF 
THIS  GOSPEL  —  INSPIRATION — MATTHEW'S  GOSPEL  FOR  THE 
JEWS  —  GENEALOGY  OF  JESUS — BIRTH  OF  JESUS  —  THE  VIR- 
GIN  MOTHER. 

We  here  begin  once  more,  in  the  course  of  evening  read- 
ing, the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  so  called  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  Old,  or  the  ancient  form  in  which  the  same 
Gospel  was  revealed  to  the  prophets,  the  patriarchs,  and 
the  people  of  Israel. 

The  four  Gospels  differ  in  many  respects  from  each  other. 
They  have  each  peculiarities  of  style,  expression,  and  de- 
sign. They  have  left  us  each  different  parts  of  our  Lord's 
biography,  one  Gospel  containing  what  the  other  omits,  and 
the  other,  again,  giving  at  greater  length  that  which  another 
presents  more  succinctly.  It  is  plain  that  we  have  a  full 
view  of  the  blessed  Redeemer  only  from  a  full  study  of  all 
the  four  Gospels. 

The  meaning  of  the  word  "  Gospel,"  you  have  often  heard 
me  say,  is  "  good  news,"  derived  frora,  the  two  Saxon  words 
God  spell.  It  is  the  translation  of  the  Greek  word  evayyiTitov, 
which  meant  amongst  ancient  classic  Writers,  a  sacrifice  or 
a  thank-offering  for  good  news ;  but  in  later  Greek  authors 
and  the  New  Testament  it  denotes  the  good  news  themselves. 
1 


2  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

We  have  four  Gospels, —  why  neither  less  nor  morel 
cannot  say,  —  and  these  four  have  always  been  accepted  in 
every  age  of  the  world,  and  on  most  conclusive  proofs,  as 
the  inspired  and  accredited  records  of  that  mysterious,  un- 
precedented, and  wonderful  biography,  the  Life  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  I  need  not  say,  that,  at  a  subsequent  age, 
additional  Gospels,  called  pseudo  Gospels,  were  compiled, 
and  thrust  upon  the  Christian  Church,  partly  by  dreamy 
monks  and  fanatics.  Some  extracts  from  these  I  have  read 
and  seen,  but  they  need  only  be  known  in  order  to  be 
repudiated  as  gross  and  scandalous  impostures.  They  indi- 
cate their  human  origin,  in  the  first  place,  in  dwelling  on 
alleged  grotesque  and  showy  miracles  of  Jesus.  The  "  Gos- 
pel of  Nicodemus  "  is  the  title  of  one,  and  the  "  Gospel  of 
the  Infancy  "  is  another ;  these  and  other  palpable  forgeries 
expend  their  resources  in  dilating  upon  the  wonderful  mira- 
cles, so  wonderful  as  to  be  puerile,  that  Christ,  as  they  say, 
did  wlien  he  was  an  infant.  They  give  all  the  evidences 
one  could  desire,  of  being  anile  and  absurd  traditions.  Be- 
sides, if  that  were  not  enough,  they  contain  in  themselves 
references  and  allusions  to  incidents  which  occurred  after 
the  apostolic  age,  and  which  alone  are  conclusive  proofs 
that  they  were  written  at  least  two  hundred  years  after  the 
life  and  death  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Christ  Jesus.  If, 
for  instance,  a  document  professing  to  be  written  in  the 
year  1780,  contained  allusion  to  the  Roman  Cathohc  Eman- 
cipation Bill  of  1829,  you  would  say  that  that  document 
must  have  been  composed  after  that  political  event  occurred, 
that  it  could  not  have  been  written  prior  to  it.  Now  these 
Gospels,  which  were  compiled,  some  of  them  by  pious,  but 
ignorant,  and  others  by  superstitious  men,  show  that  they 
were  composed  after  the  apostolic  age,  and  in  their  char- 
acter and  contents  they  evince  such  a  contrast  to  the  Inspired 
Record,  that  it  needs  no  great  skill  to  prove  that  they  were 
subsequent  compositions,  drawn  up  by  men  who  gave  heed 


MATTHEW  I.  3 

to  the  traditions  of  the  priests,  or  to  the  dreams  of  super- 
stition, instead  of  borrowing,  as  they  ought,  every  incident, 
and  doctrine,  and  truth,  from  the  Fountains  of  Truth,  the' 
Records  of  God. 

The  author  of  the  Gospel  which  we  are  now  to  read  on 
successive  Sabbath  evenings,  is  called  Matthew.  He  was  a 
publican  ;  the  word  publican,  as  you  are  aware,  in  ancient 
times,  being  a  word  that  denoted  a  tax-gatherer,  or  a  person 
appointed  by  the  Roman  empire  to  collect  the  taxes  which 
the  Jews,  or  subject  colony,  owed  to  Caesar.  He  is  called 
sometimes  Levi,  but  the  name  by  which  he  was  generally 
known,  and  by  which  he  is  distinguished  now,  is  Matthew. 
The  word  "  saint "  is  prefixed  to  the  authors  of  the  Gospels, 
but  that  name  is  not  more  due  to  them  than  to  any  other 
Christian.  All  Christians  are  saints.  They  are  all  believers, 
the  ayioi  "  the  holy  people."  Every  Epistle  is  addressed  to 
the  "  saints,"  that  is,  to  Christians.  Yet  it  seems  by  uni- 
versal consent,  that  the  title  "  saint "  should  be  accorded, 
though  not  restricted,  to  the  evangelists,  and  to  the  apostles, 
and  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  as  a  mark  of  their  in- 
spiration and  their  writing  of  the  Sacred  Record. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact,  that  almost  universal  an- 
tiquity asserts,  that  this  Gospel  was  originally  written  in 
Hebrew,  or  rather  in  the  Syro-Chaldaic  language,  the  lan- 
guage spoken  by  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  our  Lord.  All 
ancient  writers,  as  may  be  seen  in  Eusebius,  the  Greek 
ecclesiastical  historian,  Irenaeus,  Epiphanius,  repeatedly  say 
that  this  Gospel  was  written  in  the  Hebrew,  or  the  Syro- 
Chaldaic  tongue.  But  that  it  was  very  early  translated 
into  Greek  is  certain,  for  the  early  editions  of  it  now  only 
exist  in  Greek ;  and  the  testimony  to  this  is  derived  from 
passages  which  indicate  translation,  as  if  the  Greek  were 
not  the  original,  but  a  copy.  It  is  reported  by  some  ancient 
writers  that  Matthew  translated  it  himself.  It  may  have 
been  so ;  at  all  events,  we  have  it  only  in  Greek,  if  this  be 


4  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

a  translation,  and  it  has  been  received  by  the  whole  Christian 
Church,  as  it  indeed  internally  evinces,  onward  to  the  pres- 
ent moment,  as  the  inspired  and  actual  history  of  Jesus, 
composed  by  Matthew.  In  fact,  I  cannot  conceive  how  any- 
body could  suppose  that  a  man  originally  vulgar  minded, 
uneducated,  without  any  original  thought,  sentiment,  or  deli- 
cate feeling,  a  tax-gatherer  by  trade  —  not  a  very  respect- 
able one  at  that  day,  and  generally  in  the  hands  of  very 
unpopular  men  —  that  such  a  man  composed  out  of  his  own 
head  the  majestic  and  impressive  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
Give  me  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  only  in  St.  Matthew's 
Gospel  as  my  proof,  and  that  alone,  I  assert,  bears  so  vividly 
the  impress  of  a  celestial  origin,  that  my  inference  must  be 
alike  just  and  natural,  that  he  that  recorded  it  only  recorded 
what  he  heard,  not  invented  out  of  his  own  mind  what  was 
his  own.  This  Gospel  contains  some  of  our  Lord's  dis- 
courses, especially  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  at  far  greater 
length  than  any  of  the  remaining  Gospels,  if  I  except  St, 
John's,  to  which,  if  spared,  we  hope  to  come,  and  then  I 
shall  be  able  to  examine  its  peculiarities. 

The  peculiar  distinction  of  this  Gospel  according  to  Mat- 
thew is,  that  it  seems  to  have  been  addressed  primarily  to 
the  Jews.  It  has  a  Jewish  tinge  and  coloring,  and  allusions 
pervading  it,  all  of  which  indicates  that  Matthew  meant  it 
to  be  especially  for  his  countrymen,  the  Jews ;  and,  in  fact, 
there  are  evidences,  on  examining  the  four  Gospels,  that 
Matthew's  Gospel  was  the  Gospel  chiefly  for  the  Jews,  that 
Luke's  Gospel  is  chiefly  for  the  Gentiles ;  the  Hebraistic, 
or  the  Hellenistic  Greek  of  Matthew,  contrasting  with  the 
more  Attic  Greek  of  Luke,  and  indicating  the  classes  for 
which  they  were  respectively  designed,  as  well  as  the  men 
they  were  written  by ;  and  John's  Gospel  has  been  called 
the  Gospel  of  the  Father,  meant  for  Jew,  and  Greek,  and 
all  mankind. 

The  first  chapter  begins  by  giving  the  generation,  or  tlie 


MATTHEW   I.  5 

descent  of  Christ.  First,  it  shows  he  was  the  Son  of 
Abraham,  and,  therefore,  the  great  fulfilment  of  the  ancient 
promise,  which  we  have  been  considering  on  successive 
Sabbath  mornings,  that,  "  In  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  Again,  he  is  men- 
tioned as  the  offspring  of  David,  to  indicate  his  royal 
descent,  and  to  respond  to  the  many  promises  that  show 
that  Jesus,  the  Messiah,  should  be  descended  from  David, 
and  be  David's  son. 

The  expression  Jesus  "the  Christ"  occurs  only  in  the 
prefatory  matter  of  each  of  the  Gospels,  and  seems  to  be 
almost  dropped  in  the  sequel  or  remainder. 

After  this  genealogy  has  been  given,  we  read  of  the 
birth  of  Christ  being  on  this  wise.  Mary  was  espoused  to 
Joseph.  In  ancient  times  a  woman  was  espoused  to  a  man 
at  least  twelve  months  before  she  was  actually  married  to 
him ;  and  during  these  twelve  months  she  was  as  sacredly 
regarded  as  his  wife  as  if  she  had  been  actually  married  to 
him,  and  any  unfaithfulness  then  was  as  great  a  sin  as  after- 
wards. It  is  recorded,  that  she  was  thus  espoused  to 
Joseph,  and  pledged  and  set  apart  to  be  his  wife.  Mary 
showed  she  was  soon  to  be  a  mother,  and  Joseph,  not  un- 
derstanding the  mysterious  circumstances  in  which  she  was 
divinely  placed,  and  which  alone  explained  her  state,  and 
misjudging,  by  weighing  facts  according  to  a  human  stand- 
ard, and  thinking  that  a  sin,  which  the  Virgin  only  by 
divine  tidings  knew,  to  be  miraculous  fact,  was  inclined  to 
put  her  away  as  guilty  of  unfaithfulness ;  "  not  willing  to 
make  her  a  public  example,"  thereby  indicating  his  love, 
for  he  might  have  divorced  her  by  public  letters,  which 
was  in  his  power.  A  divine  messenger  told  him  the  mys- 
terious fact,  so  mysterious  as  to  be  incredible  to  flesh  and 
blood  without  a  direct  revelation  from  the  fountain  of  all 
truth  — "  She  shall  bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou  shalt  call 
his  name  Jesus,"  which,  translated  literally,  is,  "he  shall 
1* 


6  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

save  his  people  from  their  sins."  Here  is  the  moral  and 
the  spiritual  work  of  the  Gospel,  at  a  period  when  all 
earthly  kings  were  disturbed  by  the  foolish  notion,  that 
Christ  had  come  to  set  up  a  rival  monarchy,  intended  to 
dislodge  the  thrones,  and  to  break  the  sceptres  of  the  rest 
of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world. 

Then  the  promise  is  appealed  to  as  the  origin;  "  Behold, 
a  virgin  shall  be  with  child  :  "  it  is,  literally  translated,  "  the 
virgin  shall  be  with  child  "  —  tj  Trap&ivog,  the  translation  of 
Ha-almah  in  the  Hebrew,  "  the  virgin,"  not  "  a  virgin  shall 
be  with  child  "  —  so  as  virgin  never  was  before  ;  "  and  shall 
bring  forth  a  son,"  so  as  never  son  was  born  before,  and  never 
will  be  born  afterwards  ;  "and  they  shall  call  his  name  Em- 
manuel," which  is,  translated  in  our  tongue,  "  God  with  us." 
Joseph  understood  it,  and  then  took  to  be  his  wife  her  who 
was  previously  espoused  to  him,  and  called  the  name  of  the 
child  Jesus.  The  last  verse  of  the  chapter  appears  to  prove 
that  Mary  afterwards  was  the  mother  of  other  children. 


Note. —  [Title]  evayyeAiov,  in  earlier  Greek,  signifies  a  present 
made  as  a  return  for  good  news  (see  Horn.  Od.  ^.  152,  166  ;  also  2 
Kings  iv.  10,  LXX.),  or  a  sacrifice  offered  in  thanksgiving  for  the 
same  (Aristoph.  Eq,  658) ;  in  later  Greek,  the  good  news  itself  as  in 
LXX.  and  New  Testament  passim,  in  the  appropriated  sense  of  the 
good  news  of  salvation  by  Christ  Jesus.  Hence  it  came  to  be  applied 
to  the  writings  themselves  which  contain  this  good  news  very  early  ; 
so,  Justin  M.  Apol.  ol  u-kootoKolIv  rolq  yevoiifivoig  vtc'  avTcJv  uTro/ivij- 
fiovevfiaciv,  u  KaTielrai  evayyeTua,  p.  98. — Alford. 


CHAPTEE    II. 

INTRODUCTION  —  THE  STAR  —  THE  MAGI  —  HEROD  —  SYNOD  —  MAS- 
SACRE OP  INNOCENTS — RACHEL's  SORROW — THE  SINFULNESS 
OF   THE   HUMAN   HEART   IN   ITS   TREATMENT   OP   THE   SAVIOUR. 

It  appears  from  the  testimony  of  heathen  historians,  that 
a  rumor  prevailed  all  over  the  East  about  1853  or  1854: 
years  ago,  that  is,  immediately  before  the  birth  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  that  a  great  king  was  soon  to 
arise  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  to  whom  the  dominion  of  the 
whole  earth  should  be  consigned.  These  eastern  kings,  or 
students  of  astronomy,  versed  in  the  science  of  the  stars, 
and  no  less  acquainted  with  the  traditions  of  their  land, 
believed  that  such  an  event  was  soon  to  take  place  ;  and  a 
star,  or  a  meteor,  it  may  have  been,  that  they  could  neither 
explain  nor  discover  in  their  chart,  that  crossed  their  reckon- 
ing, and  contradicted  all  their  calculations,  signified  to  them 
that  this  great  King  of  the  Jews  was  now  born,  and  that  it 
was  their  duty  to  go  and  offer  him  incense,  adoration,  and 
praise.  An  inspiration  from  on  high  was  ho  doubt  their 
strongest  impulse. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  among  divines  what  this 
star  was.  Evidently,  as  the  merest  tyro  knows,  it  was  not  a 
star  that  left  its  orbit,  and  took  an  eccentric  course,  because 
that,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  was  neither  necessary  nor  prob- 
able ;  but  it  has  been  actually  calculated  by  modern  histo- 
rians, that  at  the  very  period  when  it  can  be  proved  chrono- 
logically that  Christ  was  born,  there  was  a  conjunction  of 
two  of  the  planets  unprecedented  for  thousands  of  years ; 


8  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

and  that  such  a  conjunction  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  happen- 
ing at  that  period,  would  present  the  appearance  of  a  star 
of  unearthly  and  unprecedented  brilliancy ;  and  that  no 
doubt  was  the  sign  that  God  employed  to  call  attention  to  a 
new  fact,  to  show  the  place  where  Christ  was  born,  and  to 
lead  the  wise  men  to  Bethlehem  to  visit  Him,  who  was  born 
King  of  the  Jews.  But,  whatever  be  the  mode  that  was 
adopted,  it  is  sufficient  to  believe  that  there  was  a  celestial 
phenomenon  of  an  unearthly  splendor,  which  awakened  and 
aroused  the  minds  of  watchful  and  inquiring  students  versed 
in  astronomy  to  the  occurrence  of  some  supernatural  fact, 
or  new  and  startling  interposition ;  and  this  bright  sign,  as- 
sociated with  the  traditions  of  the  east,  and  more  probably 
still  with  the  immediate  suggestion  and  inspiration  of  God, 
brought  these  eastern  kings  to  see  and  to  worship  Him  who 
was  "  the  bright  and  morning  star." 

In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  there  is  a  tradition  that 
these  kings  were  three.  For  this  there  is  no  reliable  au- 
thority. In  fact,  at  Cologne  any  one  may  see  the  reputed 
three  skulls  of  the  three  Magi  still  preserved,  crowned  with 
golden  diadems ;  and  even  the  names  of  the  three  kings 
are  given.  These  names  are  of  course  very  recent,  and  as 
authentic  as  the  skulls  they  designate.  The  whole  story  at 
Cologne  is  the  merest  tradition,  and,  like  most  traditions,  of 
no  weight  or  authority  whatever.  They  may  have  been 
ten,  or  twenty,  for  aught  we  know.  The  sacred  record 
merely  states  that  certain  kings  came  from  the  east  to  Jeru- 
salem, seeking  him  who  was  born  King  of  the  Jews. 

We  read  next  of  the  impression  made  on  the  mind  of 
Herod,  a  cruel  and  a  sanguinary  tyrant,  who  had  murdered 
his  own  wife,  and  had  been  guilty  of  very  many  and  very 
great  atrocities.  He  no  sooner  heard  of  this  strange  and 
supernatural  fact,  than  his  conscience  suggested,  what  he 
felt  was  his  desert,  that  he  might  lose  his  kingdom ;  his 
fears  became  prophetic,  and  told  him  that  a  rival  had  come 


MATTHEW  II.  9 

into  the  world,  who,  he  supposed,  would  deprive  him  of  his 
sceptre.  The  Evangelist,  therefore,  adds  —  "  When  Herod 
the  king  heard  these  things,  he  was  troubled."  In  the 
original  it  is,  "  he  was  exceedingly  agitated  and  convulsed 
with  fear."  What  did  he  do  ?  He  resolved  to  consult  the 
chief  priests  and  scribes,  whom  he  despised,  but  whom  he 
was  willing  enough  to  make  use  of  to  carry  out  his  own 
nefarious  purposes  ;  and  under  the  pretence  of  religion,  he 
called  them  to  a  Synod,  and  gathered  them  together  in 
general  assembly,  to  ascertain  from  them  in  what  place 
Christ  should  be  born.  This  Synod  that  met  in  obedience 
to  his  command,  decided  unanimously  that  He  should  be 
born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea ;  and  they  set  a  precedent 
which  one  would  wish  that  all  modern  Synods  would 
adopt,  —  they  rested  their  decision  on  Scriptural  grounds, 
to  which  they  unanimously  appealed.  They  did  not  profess 
to  decide  by  the  aids  of  tradition,  or  infallibility,  as  if  infal- 
libility were  their  prerogative ;  but  they  said,  what  Synods 
have  not  been  very  much  given  to  say,  but  rather  very 
much  given  to  conceal,  in  their  past  history  —  "  Thus  it  is 
written  by  the  prophet,  And  thou,  Bethlehem,  in  the  land 
of  Juda,  art  not  the  least  among  the  princes  of  Juda ;  for 
out  of  thee  shall  come  a  governor,  that  shall  rule  my  peo- 
ple Israel."  Here  was  Scripture  justly  appealed  to ;  the 
place  truly  specified,  so  that  Plerod  now  knew  the  locality 
of  Christ's  birth  with  the  highest  certainty.  Well,  he  sent 
next  to  the  wise  men,  and  "  inquired  of  them  diligently 
what  time  the  star  appeared ; "  that  is,  having  found  out 
the  place,  his  next  anxiety  was  to  find  the  time,  so  that  he 
might  know  the  age  of  the  child  as  well  as  where  he  was 
born.  Wicked  men  pursue  minutely  their  designs.  He 
said  to  them  — "  Go,  and  search  diligently  for  the  young 
child ;  and  when  ye  have  found  him,  bring  me  word  again, 
that  I  may  come  and  worship  him  also."  This  was  a  royal 
falsehood.     How  revolting  the   hypocrisy  that  pretended 


10  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  he  was  anxious  to  worship  him,  whilst  he  really  de- 
sired to  destroy  him.  Very  often  religion  is  made  the 
covert  of  nefarious  crimes,  and  under  the  garb  of  sacred- 
ness,  deeds  have  been  done  that  were  never  perpetrated  by 
open  and  avowed  criminality.  "  When  they  had  heard  the 
king,  they  departed ;  and  lo,  the  star  which  they  saw  in  the 
east  went  before  them,"  or,  at  least,  seemed  to  go  before 
them,  "  till  it  came  and  stood  over  where  the  young  child 
was.  When  they  saw  the  star,  they  rejoiced  with  exceeding 
great  joy.  And  when  they  were  come  into  the  house,  they 
saw  the  young  child  with  Mary  his  mother,  and  fell  down 
and  worshipped  him."  They  recognized  in  the  infant  of  a 
day  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting 
Father,  the  subject  of  ancient  prophecy,  and  "they  pre- 
sented unto  him  gifts,  gold,  and  frankincense."  In  that 
babe,  born  in  a  lowly  place,  and  of  an  obscure  mother,  they 
seem  to  have  recognized  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  They  seem  to  have  had  more  than  mere  traditional 
light ;  one  would  imagine  they  must  have  been  guided  and 
governed  by  the  grace  and  Spirit  of  God.  -  They  were 
"  warned  of  God  in  a  dream  that  they  should  not  return  to 
Herod,  and  departed  into  their  own  country  another  way." 
And  Joseph,  the  reputed  father,  was  told  to  take  Mary  and 
the  child,  and  to  flee  into  Egypt.  How  truly  Christ  came 
unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not !  He  was 
despised  and  rejected  of  men.  From  his  first  breath  as  the 
babe  of  Bethlehem  to  his  last  agony  upon  the  cross  of  Cal- 
vary, he  was  a  man  of  sorrows,  persecuted,  proscribed,  de- 
spised. There  was  awful  consistency  in  this  treatment. 
There  is  no  explanation  of  so  mysterious  and  peculiar  a  life, 
except  the  explanation  of  the  sacred  record,  that  on  him 
were  laid  the  iniquities  of  us  all,  that  he  was  bruised  for 
our  sins,  and  that  he  was  smitten  for  our  transgression,  that, 
in  short,  he  lived  and  died  a  sufferer,  because  he  was  a 
sacrifice. 


MATTHEW   II.  11 

A  prophecy  is  applied  to  circumstances  connected  with 
the  birth  of  Jesus  which  belonged  historically  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel ;  but  as  they  and  their  history  have  a  typical 
application  to  Christ's  history,  the  peculiar  prophecy  applied 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  apposite 
and  just.  Of  this  we  read  in  the  account  of  the  monstrous 
cruelty  that  Herod  is  here  said  to  have  perpetrated.  He 
destroyed  all  the  young  children  under  two  years  of  age 
that  were  born  in  Bethlehem,  these  very  probably  not  very 
many,  Bethlehem  being  a  small  village  with  a  very  small 
population.  He  did  this  inhuman  act  in  order  to  make  sure 
of  the  death  of  him  who  had  been  born,  as  he  thought,  a 
political  rival,  but  whom  his  conscience  feared  as  a  holy 
and  avenging  judge,  come  to  punish  him  before  the  time. 
"  Then,"  we  read,  "  was  fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by 
Jeremy  the  prophet,  saying,  In  Rama  was  there  a  voice 
heard,  lamentation,  and  weeping,  and  great  mourning, 
Rachel  weeping  for  her  children ; "  not  Rachel  the  wife  of 
Jacob,  but  plainly  Israel  represented  as  and  personated  by 
Rachel ;  that  is,  all  the  mothers  of  Israel  are  represented 
under  the  figure  of  Rachel,  the  mother  of  that  family, 
whose  husband  Jacob  was  first  called  Israel,  weeping  for 
their  ofi'spring,  "  and  would  not  be  comforted,  because  they 
are  not."  Many  a  Rachel  still  weeps  for  her  lost  babes. 
They  are  not  lost,  they  are  gone  before.  Their  Father  has 
forgiven  them  their  pilgrimage. 

But  Herod  did  not  live  for  ever.  His  death  is  here  re- 
corded, and  on  the  occurrence  of  what  many  must  have 
rejoiced  at,  Joseph  returned,  being  guided  in  a  dream  by 
the  Spirit  of  God.  He  sought  again  the  land  of  Israel. 
"  But  when  he  heard  that  Archelaus  did  reign  in  Judaea  in 
the  room  of  his  father  Herod,  he  was  afraid  to  go  thither." 
He  was  afraid  that  the  son  would  imitate  the  precedent  set 
before  him  by  his  father,  and  would  be  as  reaciy  to  destroy 
the  child  as  was   Herod.     One   fears   the   effect  of  evil 


12  SCRIPTURE  READINGS. 

parental  example.  "  Notwithstanding,  being  warned  of 
God  in  a  dream,  he  turned  aside  into  the  parts  of  Galilee  ; 
and  he  came  and  dwelt  in  a  city  called  Nazareth."  It  would 
appear  as  if  this  were  the  merest  accident,  but  under  God, 
it  was  designed  that  Jesus  might  thus  live  in  Nazareth  in 
order  that  he  might  be  called  a  Nazarene,  which  was  the 
epithet  given  in  scorn  to  a  despised  and  unworthy  person. 

In  that  lowly  birth  were  also  the  signs  of  no  ordinary 
visitant  to  earth.  In  so  sinful  a  reception  by  all  ranks, 
prince,  and  priest,  and  peasant,  with  a  few  bright  excep- 
tions, we  see  how  far  man  is  fallen. 

Blessed  Jesus,  may  we  have  grace  to  say,  "  To  whom 
can  we  go,  but  unto  thee  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life." 


Note.  —  Herod  the  Great,  son  of  Antipater,  an  Idumean,  by  an 
Arabian  mother,  made  king  of  Judaea  on  occasion  of  his  having  fled 
to  Rome,  being  driven  from  his  tetrarchy  by  the  pretender  Anti- 
gonus.  (Jos.  Ant.  XIV.  xiv.  4.)  This  title  was  confirmed  to  him 
after  the  battle  of  Actium  by  Octavianus.  He  sought  to  strengthen 
his  throne  by  a  series  of  cruelties  and  slaughters,  putting  to  death 
even  his  wife  Mariamne,  and  his  sons  Alexander  and  Aristobulus. 
His  cruelties,  and  his  affectation  of  Gentile  customs,  gained  for  him 
a  hatred  among  the  Jews,  which  neither  his  magnificent  rebuilding  of 
the  temple,  nor  his  liberality  in  other  public  works,  nor  his  provident 
care  of  the  people  dui-ing  a  severe  famine,  could  mitigate.  He  died 
miserably,  five  days  after  he  had  put  to  death  his  son  Antipater,  in 
the  seventieth  year  of  his  age  and  the  thirty-seventh  of  his  reign,  and 
the  seven  hundred  and  fiftieth  year  of  Rome. 

The  modern  objections  to  this  narrative  may  be  answered  best  by 
remembering  the  monstrous  character  of  this  tyrant,  of  whom  Jose- 
phus  asserts  (Ant.  XVII.  vi.  5)  [li'Kaiva  xo^V  clvtov  rjpei  km  iraaiv 
k^ayptaivovaa.  Herod  had  marked  the  way  to  his  throne,  and  his 
reign  itself,  with  blood ;  and  had  murdered  his  wife  and  three  sons, 
(the  last  just  about  this  time,)  and  was  likely  enough,  in  bUnd  fury, 
to  have  made  no  inquiries,  but  given  the  savage  order  at  once.  Be- 
sides, there  might  have  been  a  reason  for  not  making  inquiry,  but 
rather  taking  the  course  he  did,  which  was  sure,  he  thought,  to  answer 
the  end  without  divulging  the  purpose.  — Alford. 


CHAPTER     III. 

JOIIX      THE     BAPTIST  HIS      MISSION,      KEPENTANCE  EEIGN      OF 

CHRIST HEBREW  AND  GREEK  NAMES DEITY  IX  HUMANITY 

baptist's     food     and     CLOTHING  BAPTISM  —  PRIVATE     COJI- 

MUNION BAPTISM   OF   JESUS DESCENT    OF    SPIRIT TKINITY\ 

,  We  have  described,  in  the  chapter  we  have  read,  the 
great  preparatory  office  of  that  remarkable  character  who 
herakled  in  the  Advent  of  Christ,  John  the  Baptist.  We 
read  that  he  came  "  in  those  da3's,"  that  is,  "  immediately 
preceding  the  public  ministry  of  Christ;"  preaching  in 
"  the  wilderness,"  the  wilderness  denoting,  not  a  desert  and 
an  uninhabited  place,  but  a  place  thinly  peopled  and  poor, 
not  cultivated  or  taken  in.  The  very  first  text  that  he  ad- 
dressed to  them  was  the  exhortation  that  became  the  rough- 
ness, if  I  may  so  speak,  or  rather,  the  faithful  intrepidity  of 
his  peculiar  character,  — "  Repent  ye,"  that  is.  Reform 
your  lives,  alter  your  minds,  turn  from  the  love  and  pursuit 
of  practices  that  are  evil  to  practices  and  principles  that  are 
true ;  I  warn  and  implore  you  to  do  so ;  the  reign  of  the 
Messiah  draws  near,  one  of  the  peculiar  accompaniments  of 
which  will  be,  that  He  will  take  retributive  vengeance  on 
them  that  know  him  not,  sooner  or  later,  but  surely  he  will 
be  glorified  and  admired  in  all  them  that  believe  "  at  that 
day." 

The  expressions  "  repent "  and  "  repentance,"  occur  fre- 
quently in  the  New  Testament.     One  Greek  word  so  trans- 
lated denotes  simply  a  change  of  mind;  the  other  Greek 
2 


14  SCllirTURE    READINGS. 

word  so  translated  means  properly  a  change  of  character 
and  conduct ;  true  repentance  includes  both ;  but  the  one 
word  is  sometimes  used,  as  on  this  occasion,  in  its  own 
restricted  and  peculiar  meaning.  The  word  "kingdom" 
might  be  translated  better  "  reign."  We  cannot  well  con- 
ceive of  a  "  kingdom  "  being  at  hand,  because  we  associate 
with  the  word  "  kingdom,"  what  is  geographical,  or  local,  or 
restricted ;  but  the  expression  (iacikEia  ruv  ovpavuv  strictly 
means  the  "  reign  of  heaven,"  that  is,  that  universal  reign 
and  holy  sovereignty  with  which  the  Psalms  are  burdened, 
of  which  prophe<;ies  speak,  when  Christ  shall  reign  from 
sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  rivers  to  the  end  of  the  earth. 

For  he  sliall  have  dominion 

O'er  river,  sea,  and  shore ; 
Far  as  the  eagle's  pinion, 

Or  dove's  hglit  wing  can  soar. 

We  next  read  that  John  "  was  spoken  of  by  the  prophet 
Esaias."  Let  me  state,  in  explanation,  that  Old  Testament 
names  that  end  in  ah,  are  ended  in  Greek  with  as.  Thus, 
instead  of  Jeremiah  we  have  Jeremias,  instead  of  Elijah  we 
have  Elias,  and  in  one  instance,  instead  of  Joshua,  which  is 
the  strict  Hebrew  word  of  which  Jesus  is  the  translation, 
we  have,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  Jesus.  So  that, 
many  of  those  words  that  seem  different  from  the  primary 
word  on  account  of  the  spelling,  you  will  easily  be  able  to 
ascertain  to  be  the  same  words,  only  differently  spelt,  owing 
to  the  difference  of  the  languages  in  which  they  are  ren- 
dered. John  is  stated  by  Esaias  to  be  "  The  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness.  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord." 
He  precedes  a  royal  personage,  he  thus  heralds  a  royal  ad- 
vent. It  was  worthy  of  him  who  was  Prince  of  the  kings 
of  the  earth  to  send  a  harbinger  before  him,  and  this  even 
in  his  humiliation.  You  will  be  struck  in  the  perusal  of  the 
Gospels,  on  which  we  have  just  entered,  by  observing  that 


MATTHEW    III.  15 

in  the  deepest  depression  of  the  Son  of  Man  there  flashed 
forth  bright  beams,  indicating  the  presence  of  the  glory  of 
the  Son  of  God.  You  will  never  see  Jesus  so  exclusively 
set  forth  as  the  Man,  that  there  are  no  gleams  flashing 
through  of  his  essential  and  divine  glory;  and  you  will 
never  see  him  so  entirely  portrayed  as  God,  that  there  are 
no  evidences  of  his  essential  and  true  humanity  interming- 
ling with  and  subduing  and  softening  it.  Here  you  have 
him  as  God  and  man,  sending  a  harbinger  before  him  that 
proclaimed  his  dignity ;  yet,  his  advent  being  to  preach  and 
to  suffer,  there  is  also  enough  to  indicate  his  humanity. 

This  John  "  had  his  raiment  of  camel's  hair,"  that  is,  a 
cloak  made  of  the  roughest  hair  of  the  camel,  still  worn  by 
the  Arabs  of  the  desert ;  "  and  a  leathern  girdle  about  his 
loins ;  and  his  meat  was  locusts."  I  believe  this  to  be  the 
insect  strictly  so  called,  which  is  still  used  by  the  Arabs, 
after  being  baked  in  the  oven,  as  meat ;  and  I  do  not  know 
that  there  is  any  thing  more  repulsive  in  their  eating  them, 
than  in  our  eating  shrimps,  which,  to  the  eastern  taste,  is 
Btill  abhorrent,  yet  to  ours  it  is  perfectly  natural.  lie  ate  also 
"  wild  honey,"  Palestine  being  a  country  abounding  in  honey, 
the  bees  building  in  the  rocks  and  the  branches  of  trees. 
Such  food  was  j3lentiful,  wholesome,  and  easily  accessible. 

"  Then  went  out  to  him  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all 
the  region  round  about  Jordan  ;  "  that  is,  people  went  out 
from  each  of  these  places  :  it  cannot  mean  that  the  whole 
population  crowded  around  him,  for  that  would  have  been 
impossible  ;  but  that  persons  came  from  each  of  these  places 
to  hear  him  ;  "  and  were  baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  con- 
fessing their  sins,"  not  privately,  but  publicly.  This  baptism 
of  John  clearly  was  a  totally  distinct  baptism  from  Christian 
baptism.  It  was  the  custom  among  the  Jews,  when  a  prose- 
lyte was  admitted  to  their  economy,  to  perform  three  rites ; 
one  was  oblation,  another  circumcision,  and  another  baptism, 
lustration,  or  washing.     Now,  John  here,  before  Jesus  had 


16  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

preached  tlie  Gospel  and  instituted  Christian  baptism,  ac- 
cording to  a  practice  that  he  had  seen  frequently,  baptized, 
that  is  admitted  his  proselytes  into  the  outward  kingdom  of 
heaven  by  this  rite  of  baptism  in  the  Jordan.  You  are 
aware  that  there  has  been  a  very  great  deal  of  discussion 
about  the  word  (3a7VTcCo).  I  believe  that  what  is  called  im- 
mersion was  as  frequently  practised  as  sprinkling.  The 
Greek  word  (San-n^u  is  a  corruption  or  modification  of  the 
Greek  word  [SuTrro  :  there  has  been  a  dispute  about  its  mean- 
ing. One  party  says,  it  means  to  immerse  only  —  that  is 
not  the  fact;  others  say,  it  means  to  sprinkle  only  —  that 
is  not  the  fact.  It  means  sometimes  to  sprinkle,  sometimes 
to  immerse,  and  sometimes  io  dip  ;  the  most  frequent  sense  in 
which  the  Hebrew  word  that  corresponds  to  it  is  used,  is  to 
dip  —  "  to  dip  the  rod  in  honey  "  —  "  to  dip  tlie  staff  in  oil " 
—  "  to  dip  the  foot  in  oil,"  in  all  of  which  passages  it  is 
absurd  to  infer  the  employment  of  immersion  :  dipping  a 
part  of  tlie  body  in  liquid  is  not  necessarily  immersion. 
It  is  used  by  the  Greeks  often  in  the  sense  of  sprinkling. 
For  instance,  I  think  it  is  in  the  Iliad  or  the  Odyssey  that 
it  is  said  that  the  field  was  baptized  with  dew ;  that  does  not 
mean  that  it  was  plunged  or  dipped  in  it,  but  sprinkled  with  it. 
Homer  speaks  of  the  shields  "  baptized  with  arrows  ;"  that  is, 
arrows  were  shot  at  them,  and  stuck  fast  in  them.  Some 
persons  who  are  rather  tenacious  say,  John  immersed  Jesus  in 
the  Jordan.  I  doubt  if  the  Jordan  at  Jerusalem  is  really  so 
very  deep,  except  in  times  of  floods,  as  would  be  sufficient. 
At  least,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  was  baptized  by  im- 
mersion, because  he  was  baptized  in  the  Jordan  ;  and  if 
the  ancient  pictures  of  the  early  masters  be  true,  —  which 
they  are  not  of  necessity,  of  course,  for  they  are  tradition, 
and  not  proof,  —  the  earliest  picture  of  this  fact  represents 
John  taking  a  cup  of  water,  and  pouring  its  contents  on  the 
head  of  Jesus.  But  I  would  not  care  to  spend  much  time 
in   arguing  with  our  Baptist  brethren  upon  the  amount  of 


MATTHEW   III.  1-7 

water  contained  in  a  word  ;  I  would  only  meet  them  when 
they  become  exclusive  and  bigoted  as  I  have  found  some, 
and  denounce  that  as  no  baptism  which  is  not  accompanied 
with  immersion  of  tlie  whole  body  in  water.  This  exclu- 
siveness  is  a  diluted  Puseyism.  My  conviction  is,  that  even 
if  in  every  instance  in  primitive  times  baptism  was  ad- 
ministered by  immersion,  still  this  would  be  no  reason  why 
we  should  be  bound  exactly  to  have  it  so  now.  In  ancient 
times,  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated  in  the  evening: 
when  Jesus  instituted  it,  he  did  not  partake  of  it  kneeling, 
as  the  members  of  the  Church  of  England  do,  or  sitting  at 
a  communion  table,  as  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land do ;  but  he  did  it  leaning  on  his  left  elbow,  and  with 
the  apostles  leaning  on  their  left  sides.  Now,  if  you  will 
insist  that  we  be  rigidly  conformed  to  apostolical  practices 
in  outward  things,  you  must  set  the  example  of  being  so  in 
all  their  details,  and  not  adopt  one  practice,  and  dispense 
with  all  the  rest.  There  was  no  organ,  nor  any  other  hymn 
than  David's  psalm,  at  this  first  festival.  My  idea  of  baptism 
is,  that  we  should  approach  as  near  to  the  outward  usage  as 
circumstances  will  admit ;  but  I  do  feel,  that  to  take  a  poor 
babe  and  plunge  it  over  head  in  cold  water  in  winter,  is  al- 
most to  be  guilty  of  murder  ;  and  certainly  to  take  an  adult, 
and  plunge  him  in  water,  the  temperature  of  which  is  below 
zero,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  if  it  be  not  a  penance,  it  is  not 
convenient.  Perhaps  you  say,  the  water  is  to  be  heated  ; 
but  the  waters  in  the  Jordan  could  not  be  heated.  It  must 
be  a  river,  and  as  you  are  rigidly  rubrical,  it  must  be  in 
winter  or  summer  in  India  or  Greenland.  The  temperature, 
certainly,  would  be  warm  in  the  instance  under  notice,  be- 
cause it  was  in  an  eastern  climate ;  but  still,  the  temperature 
of  rivers  varies,  and  our  Thames,  even  if  as  clean,  which  I 
very  much  doubt,  is  much  colder  than  the  Jordan  ;  and, 
therefore,  it  would  be  inconvenient  in  this  latitude ;  and  the 
poor  Greenlanders  would  find  baptism  simply  martyrdom. 


18  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Christianity  is  not  a  religion  of  rigid,  external,  unbending 
forms,  but  a  religion  of  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost,  —  an  inner  life,  not  an  outer  conformity. 
The  ceremony  must  always  give  way  to  the  substance, 
never  the  substance  give  way  to  the  ceremony,  nor  health 
be  affected  by  rigid  adherence  to  a  form. 

We  read  that  those  baptized  by  John  were  baptized  after- 
wards by  our  blessed  Lord.  That  would  prove  that  they 
were  not  recipients  of  Christian  baptism.  You  read  in  the 
Acts  that  many  received  Christian  baptism  who  had  re- 
ceived the  baptism  of  John  ;  and,  therefore,  to  argue  from 
John's  baptism  and  its  meaning,  whatever  that  may  be,  to 
Christian  baptism,  with  its  peculiar  meaning,  is  to  argue 
erroneously,  for  the  two  things  are  perfectly  distinct.  1 
admit  that  the  real  controversy  is  not  whether  it  should  be 
immersion  or  sprinkling,  but  whether  it  should  be  children 
or  adults.  This  is  a  very  different  question.  I  do  not  hold 
that  it  is  wrong  to  baptize  adults,  and,  therefore,  I  say,  that 
the  Baptists  are  right  in  baptizing  adults ;  but  I  deny  that 
they  are  right  in  saying  that  the  baptism  of  infants  is 
wrong.  I  am  prepared  to  produce  admissions  from  the  ear- 
liest ages,  that  infant  baptism  was  used ;  and  strange 
enough,  when  a  proselyte  was  admitted  into  the  Jewish 
economy,  all  his  children  were  also  admitted  by  baptism. 
There  is  no  denial  of  this  fact,  that  when  a  Gentile  prose- 
lyte was  admitted  into  the  Jewish  economy  by  baptism,  all 
his  children  were  instantly  admitted  by  a  rite  also.  It  is 
not  a  discussion  that  one  would  wish  to  agitate  in  these 
times  ;  but  still,  it  is  right  that  every  one  should  express 
his  deep  and  honest  convictions  in  charity.  It  does  seem  to 
me  that  the  baptism  of  infants  is  most  scriptural.  Is  there 
any  thing  more  beautiful  than  the  sight  in  this  congregation, 
when  two  parents,  who,  we  think,  are  the  proper  sponsors, 
publicly  present  and  dedicate  their  babe,  amidst  the  prayers 
of  a  whole  congregation,  solemnly  to  God  by  that  expres- 


MATTHEW    III.  19 

Bive  rite  of  Christian  baptism  ?  I  should  not  like  to  let  go 
that  beautiful  sight ;  I  should  not  like  to  part  with  so  im- 
pressive a  ceremony.  I  always  refuse  to  baptize  infants  in 
private,  unless  sickness  renders  it  expedient ;  and  generally 
all  classes,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  on  being  reasoned 
with  for  a  few  minutes,  agree  in  the  propriety  of  this  ar- 
rangement. It  is  too  beautiful  and  too  impressive  a  thing 
to  be  done  in  a  corner ;  and  I  cannot  understand  how  some 
of  my  copresbyters  of  the  Scotch  Church  in  the  north  jus- 
tify themselves,  in  protesting  as  they  do  vehemently  against 
the  Lord's  Supper  being  administered  to  a  dying  person  in 
the  sick  room,  who  may  never  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
joining  in  it  in  pirblic,  while  they  are  willing  to  administer 
baptism  in  the  presence  of  two  or  three  witnesses,  or  even 
of  none  but  the  parents.  I  am  convinced  that  the  General 
Assembly  were  wrong  when  they  refused  to  entertain  a 
motion  made  by  a  nobleman  who  is  an  elder  of  the  church, 
who  moved  that  it  be  lawful  for  ministers  to  administer  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  private,  for  reasons  for  which  baptism  is 
administered  in  private ;  of  course-,  not  to  dying  criminals 
as  a  passport,  nor  to  persons  who  superstitiously  avail  them- 
selves of  it  as  a  charm.  If  I  find  a  person  converted  upon 
a  sick-bed,  brought  to  know  and  love  the  Saviour,  and  there- 
fore a  Christian,  and  if  he  says,  "  I  never  celebrated  upon 
earth  that  beautiful  rite,  the  Communion,  that  commemo- 
rates my  Saviour's  death  and  sacrifice,  and  love,  and  is  to 
his  own  his  holy  pledge  and  seal,  and  I  should  like,  if  it 
were  possible  to  do  so,  but  I  am  so  weak  that  I  cannot  leave 
my  sick  room ; "  I  could  say,  "  You  need  not  the  outward 
rite,  as  if  essentially  necessary;  the  inward  communion  is 
for  you ;  and  if  you  love  and  trust  that  Saviour,  it  is  com- 
munion with  him."  But  if  he  says,  "  I  admit  all  this,  and 
deeply  and  joyfully,  but  still  I  should  like  to  partake  of  the 
Communion ; "  how  is  it  that  that  very  church  which  say^ 
that  there  is  a  church  wherever  two  or  three  of  God's  peo- 


20  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

pie  meet  together  in  Christ's  name,  should  object  to  the 
ordinances  of  a  church  being  administered  where  two  or 
three  are  met  together  in  that  Name  in  a  sick  room  ?  Many 
a  sick  chamber  has  a  consecration  parish  churches  have 
not.  Over  and  over  again  was  the  Lord's  Supper  adminis- 
tered in  houses,  and  in  prisons,  in  the  catacombs  beneath  the 
soil  of  Rome,  in  the  Mamertine  prison,  in  the  caves  and 
dens  of  the  Alps ;  and  it  may  be  so  again  before  the  dis- 
pensation closes. 

John,  we  find,  explains  next  the  thorough  nature  of  his 
mission.  He  says :  Do  not  say  that  we  have  Abraham  for 
our  father ;  do  not  plead  the  patriarchal  succession  —  which 
was  just  with  them  what  the  Apostolical  succession  is  in 
these  days ;  —  do  not  say  that  we  have  a  patriarch  or  an 
apostle  whose  succession  we  inherit ;  "  for  I  say  unto  you, 
that  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto 
Abraham,"  and  successors  to  the  apostles.  The  truth  is,  the 
tree  is  good  that  bears  good  fruit,  whatever  be  its  succession 
or  its  descent,  and  the  tree  is  bad  that  bears  bad  fruit. 
"And  the  axe  is  laid  under  the  root  of  the  trees  ;  there- 
fore," he  says,  like  a  thorough  out-and-out  reformer,  "  every 
tree  which  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit,  is  hewn  down  and 
cast  into  the  fire."  Here  is  the  great  law  of  God,  that  he 
will  bear  with  the  tree  long.  The  interceding  Christ  cries  — 
"  Spare  it  another  year."  God  will  spare  it  another  year ; 
but  if  it  bring  not  forth  fruit,  it  is  to  be  cut  down,  not 
merely  because  it  is  barren,  but  because  it  casts  a  shadow, 
and  prevents  other  fruits  and  flowers  growing  up  where  it 
stands,  —  it  is  a  cumberer  of  the  ground;  it  must  be  re- 
moved. 

He  adds  :  "  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  "  —  that  is 
all  my  mission  —  "but  he  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier 
than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear ;  he  shall  bap- 
tize you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire ; "  not,  I  think, 
exclusively  relating  to  that  Pentecostal  baptism,  but  to  the 


MATTHEW    III.  21 

baptism  that  Christ  still  gives.  The  minister  still  baptizes 
with  water ;  it  is  Christ  alone  who  baptizes  with  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

"We  next  read  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus ;  but,  I  think,  to 
quote  the  baptism  of  Jesus  as  any  precedent  of  ours,  is  to 
misquote  Scripture.  When  any  person  argues  that  baptism 
is  to  be  administered  at  twenty  or  thirty  years  of  age,  be- 
cause Jesus  was  thirty  years  old  when  it  was  administered 
to  him,  he  surely  errs.  There  is  no  parallelism ;  because 
John's  baptism  was  not  a  Christian  baptism,  since  the  sub- 
jects of  John's  baptism  had  to  come  under  Christ's  baptism 
afterwards.  The  Law  was  then  in  force,  and  it  became 
Jesus,  as  under  the  Law,  while  the  Law  of  Levi  lasted,  "  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness,"  and  to  join  all  the  outward  adminis- 
trations of  Levi,  just  as  any  other  Jew.  It  was  not  because 
Jesus  needed  regeneration,  nor  was  baptism,  in  his  case, 
meant  to  be  the  type,  the  symbol,  or  the  seal  of  it ;  but  he 
was  baptized  as  introductory  to  his  great  office,  wliich  he 
began  to  fill  at  thirty  years  of  age,  when  he  began  to 
preach  the  great  truths  that  he  sealed  with  his  precious 
blood. 

On  this  occasion  "  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him, 
and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a  dove : " 
some  think,  in  the  form  of  a  dove  ;  others  state  that  the 
descent  was  like  the  descent  of  a  dove,  and  no  more :  how- 
ever, in  one  of  the  Gospels  it  says,  "  in  the  bodily  form  of 
a  dove." 

Then  a  voice  comes  "  from  heaven,  saying,  This  is  my  be- 
loved Son."  The  Hebrew  word  David  means  beloved,  and 
the  voice,  when  pronounced  in  the  Syriac  language,  or, 
probably,  in  the  Hebrew,  would  mean  — "  This  is  my 
David"  —  this  is  the  David  of  whom  David  sings  in  the 
Psalms,  this  is  the  root  and  offspring  of  David,  this  is  the 
true  beloved  who  is  to  sit  upon  David's  throne. 

You  will  notice  here,  there  is  the  whole  Trinity  present. 


22  SCllIPTURE    READINGS. 

There  is  the  Holy  Spirit  descending  upon  Jesus,  and  the 
Father  speaking  from  heaven,  and  Jesus,  the  subject  of  the 
new  inauguration  and  baptism,  —  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost  preceding  this  dispensation,  —  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost  receiving  the  glory  of  it  when  this  dispensation  shall 
close. 


Note.  —  Sha,w  found  locusts  eaten  by  the  Moors  in  Barbarj.  (Trav- 
els, p.  164.)  —  fzeTu  uypiov.  See  1  Sam.  xiv.  25.  Here  again,  there 
is  no  need  to  suppose  any  thing  else  meant  but  honey  made  by  wild 
bees.  Schulz  (cited  by  Wince,  Realwand  de  Wette)  found  such  honey 
in  this  very  wilderness  in  our  own  time.  Sec  Psalm  Ixxxi.  16; 
Judg.  xiv.  8  ;  Deut.  xxxii.  13. 

This  was  not  a  sudden  and  temporary  descent  of  the  Spirit,  but  a 
permanent,  though  special,  anointing  of  the  Saviour  for  his  holy 
office.  It  "abode  upon  him,"  (John  i.  32).  And  from  this  moment 
his  ministry  and  mediatorial  work  (in  the  active  official  sense)  begins ; 
evdiug,  the  Spirit  carries  him  away  to  the  wilderness  :  the  day  of  his 
return  thence  John  points  him  out  as  the  Lamb  of  God  ;  the  next  day 
Peter,  Andrew,  and  Philip  are  called ;  and  the  third  day  is  the  first 
miracle  at  the  mamage  of  Cana.  But  we  must  not  imagine  any 
change  in  the  nature  or  person  of  our  Loi'd  to  have  taken  place  at  his 
baptism.  The  anointing  and  crowning  are  but  signs  of  the  official 
assumption  of  the  power  which  the  king  has  by  a  right  independent  of, 
and  higher  than  these.  The  Avhole  is  in  remarkable  pai-allelism  with 
that  of  the  transfiguration. — Alford. 


CHAPTER    lY. 

THE   TEMPTATION  —  FIRST   AND    SECOND    ADAM  —  JESUS     LED     INTO 

THE     DESERT  —  SATAn's     SUGGESTIONS  OUR     SHIELD      AND 

SWORD — HONOR  OF  SCRIPTURE — CALL  OF  PETER  AND  AN- 
DREW—  OF  ZEBEDEE's  children  —  SYNAGOGUES  AND  CHRIS- 
TIAN CHURCHES  —  PATRISTIC  USAGES  —  TEXTS  —  HEALING 
AND    TEACHING  —  DEMONIACS. 

The  introductory  part  of  the  chapter  I  have  read  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  records  of  inspiration.  It 
describes,  not  a  phantom  scene  depicted  by  a  poet,  or  a 
dream  that  passed  through  the  mind  of  Jesus,  but,  as  we 
are  bound  to  conclude  in  the  exercise  of  fair  and  honest  and 
impartial  criticism,  a  literal  historical  fact.  We  cannot  deny 
that  it  is  Satan  personally  who  here  appears  ;  it  is  Jesus 
personally  who  was  assailed  by  him  ;  and  it  is  over  Satan 
that  Jesus,  by  the  use  of  celestial  weapons,  gains  the  victory. 

The  first  Adam  fell  amid  the  beauties  and  the  advan- 
tages of  a  garden ;  the  second  Adam  triumphed  amid  the 
hunger,  the  bleakness,  and  the  cold  of  a  desert.  It  was  in  a 
garden  our  crown  of  glory  was  lost ;  it  was  in  a  desert  that 
a  crown  of  yet  richer  glory,  beauty,  and  perfection  was 
earned. 

We  read  that  "  Jesus  was  led  np  of  the  spirit  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil."  He  is  presented 
here,  mark  you,  not  simply  as  God,  but  also  as  the  proto- 
type and  specimen  of  the  perfect  believer.  Jesus  not  only 
came  into  the  world  to  atone  for  our  sins  by  his  death,  but 
to  set  a  perfect  example  for  our  imitation  in  his  life.    And 


24  SCRIPTURE    READINGS.  • 

in  this  conflict  with  Satan  lie  presents  the  precedent  of  the 
perfect  believer,  showing  ns  where  the  arena  is,  what  our 
weapons  are,  and  how  certain  our  victory  will  be  in  the  use 
of  these  weapons,  and  in  reliance  on  the  right  source  of 
triumph  and  of  victory.  He  did  not  go  or  thrust  himself 
into  the  Avilderness  —  he  was  led.  If  you  are  led  in  the 
providence  of  God  into  scenes  of  trial,  the  same  God  who 
leads  you  there,  if  you  look  to  him,  will  keep  you  there  from 
falling ;  but  if  you  go  spontaneously  or  from  idle  curiosity 
into  scenes  of  trial,  temptation,  and  danger,  and  calculate 
that  God  will  keep  you  where  you  have  wickedly  and  wil- 
fully exposed  yourself,  you  have  no  reason  to  look  for  God's 
assistance,  for  it  is  written,  "  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord 
thy  God." 

"  When  he  had  fasted  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  he  was 
afterward  an  hungered."  That  fast,  we  learn  from  the 
parallel  passage  in  Luke,  who  says  he  ate  nothing,  was 
absolute  and  entire  abstinence  from  food.  Now,  there  are 
certain  traits  in  Jesus  which  we  cannot  imitate,  there  are 
other  traits  which  are  precedents  for  us  to  imitate.  When 
he  stilled  the  waves,  he  did  not  set  a  precedent  for  us  to 
imitate  him  in  this  —  if  we  try,  we  shall  foil.  When  he 
raised  the  dead,  and  walked  upon  the  unruly  waters,  he  did 
what  human  power  cannot  do,  and  what  it  would  be  folly  or 
fanaticism  in  us  to  attempt  to  do.  But  there  Avere  certain 
things  which  he  did  do,  which  are  designed  and  intended  to 
be  examples  and  precedents  for  us,  and  these  are  recorded 
in  his  life  throughout  the  Gospels.  Here  now  is  fasting 
forty  days  and  forty  nights,  which  surely  is  not  a  precedent 
for  us.  Try  it  completely,  and  death  must  ensue ;  imitate 
it  imperfectly,  and  there  can  be  no  end  or  object  in  your 
doing  so.  It  is  not  morally,  but  physically  impossible.  He 
was  placed  where  it  became  a  necessity,  and  for  us  to  take 
that  necessity  and  turn  it  into  a  duty  for  our  adoption,  or 
for  any  to  try  to  imitate,  is  not  to  follow  the  example  of 


MATTHEW   IV.  25 

Jesus,  as  it  was  meant  to  be  followed,  but  to  fly  at  impossi- 
bilities. 

When  the  tempter  came  to  Him,  he  put  the  hypothetical 
expression,  "  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,"  —  Satan  knew 
quite  Avell  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  but  this  was  in  order  to 
try  him  —  "  If  thoU  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  that  these 
stones  be  made  bread  ;  "  that  is,  You  are  hungry  ;  do  not, 
therefore,  wait  for  bread  in  the  ordinary  way  of  Providential 
supply,  but  turn  these  stones  into  bread. 

Now,  how  did  Jesus  answer  ?  He  might  have  said,  "  I 
tell  thee  from  the  depths  of  my  own  unsearchable  wisdom 
that  what  you  have  said  is  wrong.  I  tell  you  from  my  own 
personal  knowledge  that  man  lives  not  by  bread  alone." 
But  he  did  not  say  so ;  he  foiled  every  temptation  by  an 
appeal,  not  to  tradition,  not  to  the  fountains  of  inexhaustible 
wisdom,  but  to  that  blessed  book  which  he  has  caused  to  be 
written  for  our  learning ;  and  he  said,  "  It  is  written,  Man 
shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God."  I  know  no  eulogium  on 
Scripture  more  decided  or  impressive  than  this,  that  He 
who  inspired  it  quotes  it  as  the  rule  of  his  faith,  and  life; 
that  the  Son  of  God,  who  was  above  it,  and  needed  not  to 
quote  from  it,  so  honored  it,  that  it  might  be  an  example  to 
us,  that  he  foils  every  temptation  by  a  simple  extract  from 
the  word  —  "It  is  written,  Man  doth  not  live  by  bread 
alone."     This  was  his  sword,  and  here  too  his  shield. 

We  then  read  that  Satan,  foiled  here,  "  taketh  him  up 
into  the  holy  city,  and  setteth  him  on  a  pinnacle  of  the 
temple."  That  word  rendered  'pinnacle  might  be  translated 
"  a  wing  of  the  temple."  It  seems  to  have  been  some  lofty 
platform,  probably  the  Beautiful  Gate,  or  Solomon's  Porch 
on  the  side  of  a  lofty  hill.  This  may  have  been  days  or  a 
week  after  the  former  temptation  ;  it  does  not  follow  that  it 
was  in  instantaneous  succession  to  the  former  trial.  "  And 
he  said  unto  him,  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself 
3 


26  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

down ; "  and  Satan  noticing  that  Christ  appealed  to  Scripture 
in  the  first  trial,  imitates  his  example  so  far,  that  he  too 
quotes  Scripture  in  the  second  —  "for  it  is  written,  He 
shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning  thee :  and  in  their 
hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash 
thy  foot  against  a  stone."  Now  this  was  quite  true ;  this 
was  a  quotation  taken  from  God's  holy  word ;  and  it  teaches 
IS  this  lesson,  that  Satan  can  quote  the  most  solemn  words 
of  Scripture  when  it  suits  his  purpose  ;  but  when  he  quotes 
it,  he  generally  does  it  not  correctly  and  truly  ;  for  it  is 
written,  "  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning  thee 
to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways  ; "  not  to  keep  thee  absolutely 
wherever  you  choose  to  go,  but  to  keep  thee  always  in  the 
path  of  duty.  Satan  leaves  out  the  modifying  clause,  quotes 
the  absolute  promise,  and  then  says  to  our  Lord,  "  Show 
that  this  is  true  by  casting  yourself  down  from  the  temple." 
"  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  It  is  written  again,"  —  if  you 
have  quoted  what  is  written,  yet  "  it  is  written  again.  Thou 
shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God."  How  apposite  !  What 
indication  of  wisdom  was  here  ! 

"Again,  the  devil  taketh  him  up  into  an  exceeding  high 
mountain,"  probably  a  portion  of  the  mountain  on  which 
the  temple  was  built,  "  and  showeth  him  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them."  Satan  is  the  prince 
of  this  world,  a  usurper,  but  a  usurper  armed  with  power, 
possession,  and  influence;  and  he  says,  "All  these  things 
M'ill  I  give  thee,"  —  whether  he  spake  truly  or  not  is  an- 
other question,  —  "  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me." 
Many  a  one  is  caught  by  this  bait  still.  For  the  sake  of 
wealth  they  will  worship  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air. 
For  the  sake  of  preferment  —  the  lust  of  splendor  and  the 
thipst  of  advancement  in  the  world  —  they  will  sacrifice  all 
that  is  dutiful  to  God,  and  take  the  very  path  prescribed  by 
Satan  the  usurper  and  the  great  deceiver.  But  Jesus  an- 
swered him  again,  "  It  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the 


MATTHEW   IV.  27 

Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  How  com- 
plete was  each  answer,  and  how  interesting  that  each  was 
taken  from  Scripture,  and  what  a  precious  precedent  and 
consolation  for  us !  "  It  is  written,"  is  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit ;  and  wherever  it  is  wielded  in  the  strength  of  Him 
who  has  inspired  it,  it  will  be  crowned  with  victory. 

"  Then  the  devil  leaveth  him,  and,  behold,  angels  came 
and  ministered  unto  him."  Angels  visited  the  holy  con- 
queror. 

"Now  when  Jesus  had  heard  that  John  was  cast  into 
prison,  he  departed  into  Galilee,"  and  by  the  place  he  came 
to  he  showed  the  fulfilment  of  an  ancient  prophecy  contained 
in  Isaiah,  that  "  the  people  which  sat  in  darkness  saw  great 
light." 

Jesus  then  began  to  preach,  and  as  if  he  had  caught  up 
the  very  echoes  of  John's  ministry,  he  says,  "  Repent :  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  or  the  reign  of  heaven,  "is  at 
hand." 

We  then  read  that  he  saw  Peter  and  Andrew,  who  were 
fishermen,  casting  their  nets  into  the  sea ;  and,  borrowing 
an  illustration  from  their  trade,  he  tells  them  that  if  they 
will  follow  him,  he  will  make  them  fishers  of  a  nobler 
stamp  ;  and  they,  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  him  who  ad- 
dressed to  them  the  command,  straightway  left  their  nets, 
which  were  their  all,  and  followed  Jesus. 

We  read  then  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  John  and  James, 
following  him;  and  they  immediately  left  the  ship  which 
was  their  property,  and  their  father  and  their  relatives,  and 
followed  him  ;  teaching  us  that  we  should  leave  father,  and 
mother,  and  sister,  and  brother,  and  houses,  and  lands,  and 
our  own  life,  if  needs  be,  and  follow  Christ  when  he  bids  us. 

We  then  read  that  Jesus  went  about  teaching  in  all  their 
synagogues.  This  is  the  first  use  of  one  expression  that 
needs  to  be  explained,  namely,  the  Synagogue  of  the  ancient 
Jews.     It  is  always  understood  that  the  Christian  Church 


28  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

or  the  Christian  congregation  is  built,  not  upon  the  model 
of  the  temple,  but  on  the  model  of  the  synagogue.  In  the 
temple  was  the  high-priest,  and  the  altar,  and  sacrifices 
offered  for  the  sins  of  the  people  ;  but  in  the  synagogue 
there  was  no  altar,  but  only  a  pulpit  or  a  desk,  from  which 
the  reader  read  the  law,  and  expounded  its  meaning  to  the 
people  who  were  present.  The  temple  was  the  place  for 
sacrifice,  the  synagogue  was  the  place  for  preaching  in. 
The  synagogue  means  the  assembling  together,  or  the 
church,  or  the  collection  of  the  people,  and  it  was  so  con- 
stituted, that  if  any  Jew  was  travelling  through  the  land, 
and  came  into  a  synagogue  in  another  place,  it  Avas  lawful 
for  the  chief  reader  or  ruler  of  the  synagogue  to  ask  if  any 
brother  had  a  word  to  speak,  and  to  ask  him,  as  a  believing 
Jew,  to  go  into  the  pulpit  and  address  the  people.  It  is 
plain  that  upon  this  is  founded  the  Christian  congregation 
in  its  modern  aspect ;  and  no  doubt  one  of  the  great  secrets 
of  the  errors  that  are  creeping  into  the  different  sections  of 
the  church  at  the  present  day,  is,  that  they  look  to  the  tem- 
ple as  the  type  of  the  Christian  Church  instead  of  the  syn- 
agogue. And  while  speaking  of  the  chief  ruler  asking 
any  Jew  present  in  the  congregation  to  address  the  people, 
I  may  notice  that  for  three  centuries  after  the  Christian  era, 
it  was  not  uncommon  for  the  bishop  or  the  chief  minister  in 
the  Christian  congregation,  when  he  saw  in  the  midst  of  his 
auditory  an  enlightened  Cliristian  person,  though  a  layman, 
to  invite  him  to  go  up  into  the  pulpit  and  preach.  This,  I 
know,  would  shock  the  views  and  sentiments  of  some  mod- 
ern divines ;  when  we  examine  the  habits  of  the  Patristic 
age,  or  the  Nicene  Church,  we  discover  remarkably  enough 
that  those  who  profess  to  be  the  most  enthusiastic  imitators 
of  the  Patristic  practices,  only  imitate  them  as  far  as  it 
suits  their  own  taste  and  purpose,  and  refuse  that  imita- 
tion where  such  imitation  would  be  disagreeable  to  their 


MATTHEW   IV.  29 

This  fact,  tliat  any  stranger  passing  through  the  land  was 
suffered  to  address  the  people  in  the  ancient  synagogue,  ex- 
plains why  Jesus  so  often  preached  in  the  synagogue.  It  is 
said,  that  Jesus  went  teaching  in  all  their  synagogues,  and 
preacliing  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  unto  them  ;  and  you 
will  find  frequent  allusions  to  this  practice  in  the  Acts. 
Whilst  the  law  and  the  prophets  were  being  read  in  the 
synagogue,  the  reader  always  stood,  and  the  people  with 
him :  but  when  the  preacher  addressed  the  people  by  w#y 
of  explanation  of  the  chapter  he  had  read,  he  sat  down,  and 
all  the  people  sat  down  also.  We  shall  find  an  instance  of 
this  in  a  subsequent  Gospel,  where  Jesus  read  from  the 
Prophet  Isaiah,  then  sat  down  and  addressed  the  people. 
And  it  is  remarkable,  if  you  will  notice  the  precedents  of 
preaching  in  the  New  Testament,^  that  rarely  is  a  single 
verse  taken  —  most  frequently  a  large  mass  of  Scripture ; 
and  hence  I  think  it  so  important  and  so  useful  that  the  les- 
sons that  we  read  in  constant  and  regular  succession  from 
the  Bible  at  every  service  should  be  explained,  as  far  as 
one  is  able  to  cast  light  upon  them,  so  that  in  your  homes 
you  may  read  the  Scriptures,  not  as  a  penance,  not  as  a 
mere  duty,  but  with  profit,  and  with  understanding,  and 
with  delight.  The  origin  of  texts  was  in  the  scholastic 
ages,  when  the  plan  was  to  try  how  much  meaning  could  be 
extorted  from  the  least  possible  portion-  of  Scripture. 
Sometimes  a  text  is  most  proper,  because  it  is  so  replete 
with  instructive  meaning;  but  the  best  way  is,  in  most 
cases,  to  take  a  large  mass  of  Scripture,  and  from  it  to 
enlighten  the  hearers. 

He  also  healed  all  manner  of  sickness  and  all  manner  of 
disease  among  the  people.  Jesus,  wherever  he  conferred 
spiritual,  conferred  temporal  blessings;  and  when  he  thus 
cured  diseases,  he  gave  an  earnest  and  a  foreshadow  of  that 
blessed  era,  when  all  diseases  shall  be  healed,  when  all  sick 
ness  shall  be  ended,  when  man  shall  be  restored  to  more 
3* 


30  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

than  his  pristine  health,  and  beauty,  and  perfection ;  and  all 
things  made  good  at  the  beginning  shall  be  made  vastly  bet- 
ter in  the  paradise  that  is  to  be.  When  Jesus  healed  dis- 
eases, he  restored  man  so  far  to  his  normal  or  his  original 
state,  and  gave  in  each  act  an  earnest  and  a  prophecy  of 
what  he  will  do  when  he  conies  down  from  heaven  and 
makes  all  things  new. 

Many  were  "possessed  with  devils."  Now,  I  believe 
tWs  was  literal  possession.  Besides  Satan  the  archfiend, 
there  were  many,  and  there  are  still  many,  fallen  fiends  with 
him.  It  is  matter  of  fact,  for  it  is  recorded  in  history,  that 
these  fallen  spirits  took  possession  of  man,  although  there  is 
no  evidence  of  demoniacal  possession  subsequent  to  the 
death  of  our  Blessed  Lord.  It  is  a  very  singular  circum- 
stance, that  every  work  of  God  has  been  imitated  by  Satan. 
You  remember,  that  when  miracles  were  done  by  Moses  in 
Egypt,  the  Egyptian  magicians  imitated  them ;  and  when 
Jesus  appeared  in  the  flesh,  demoniacal  possession  became 
frequent,  as  if  Satan  would  show  that  he  had  also  appeared 
in  the  flesh :  now  that  we  have  the  Spirit,  he  does  not  pos- 
sess men  by  dwelling  in  them,  but  by  the  seductions  of  sin, 
the  fascinations  of  philosophy,  the  mazes  of  error,  and  all 
the  heresies  that  he  has  poured  forth  like  a  flood  in  the 
midst  of  the  Christian  Church. 

He  healed  also  those  that  were  "  lunatic."  Now,  to  show 
that  possession  with  devils  was  an  actual  and  a  real  thing, 
and  was  not  a  mere  derangement,  we  have  another  class  of 
diseases  specified,  those  that  were  lunatic.  The  word  luna- 
tic is,  perhaps,  a  correct  translation,  but  its  origin  is  absurd. 
It  means  moonstruck.  The  popular  tradition  was,  that  the 
moon  was  the  cause  of  lunacy,  and  that  in  certain  phases 
of  the  moon  the  lunatic  was  peculiarly  affected.  There  is 
no  good  foundation,  it  is  supposed,  for  this  notion ;  but 
though  the  origin  of  the  word  has  passed  away  with  the 
progress  of  science  and  the  enlightenment  of  the  humau 


MATTHEW    IV.  31 

mind,  yet  the  word  itself  is  still  retained,  and  is  sufficiently 
expressive  of  that  mental  derangement  for  which  it  is  em- 
ployed. And  also  he  healed  those  that  had  the  palsy ;  "  and 
there  followed  him  great  multitudes  of  people  from  Galilee, 
and  from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jerusalem,  and  from  Judaea, 
and  from  beyond  Jordan."  All  these  cures  of  bodily  dis- 
ease effected  by  our  blessed  Lord  were  earnests  of  that  ulti- 
mate state  of  health,  repose,  and  happiness,  in  which  all 
creation  shall  culminate.  Disease  and  death  are  not  the 
normal  state  of  things.  We  see  death  so  often,  and  so  im- 
partial in  its  strokes,  that  we  conclude  it  is  the  constitution 
of  nature.  It  is  not  so.  Disease  was  not  a  part  of  God's 
creation.  Death  was  not  to  be  the  gate  through  which  man 
should  ascend  higher.  The  whole  economy  of  nature  is 
more  08  less  disorganized.  Sin  has  smitten  with  its  poison- 
ous influence  all  man's  world.  Sin  opened  a  door  for  the 
irruption  of  a  vast  flood  of  moral  and  physical  evils.  It 
will  not  be  always  thus.  A  year  of  redemption  comes. 
Jesus,  in  healing  the  sick  and  raising  the  dead,  has  given  an 
earnest  and  a  pledge  of  it.  Blessed  Physician,  heal  our 
souls,  and  hasten  thy  healing  of  all  creation ! 


Note.  —  [4.]  The  words  in  Deutei'onomy  are  spoken  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  eating  manna  in  the  wilderness.  The  Lord  does  not 
give  way  to  the  temptation,  so  as  to  meet  him  with  a  clear  declaration, 
"I  am  the  Son  of  God."  Thus,  indeed,  he  might  have  asserted  his 
lordship  over  him,  but  not  have  been  his  conqueror  for  us.  The  first 
word  which  he  uses  against  him  reaches  far  deeper :  "  Man  shall  not 
live,  etc."  This,  like  the  other  text,  is  taken  from  the  history  of 
Israel's  temptation  in  the  wilderness  ;  for  Israel  represents,  in  a  fore- 
shadowing type,  the  Son  of  Man,  the  Servant  of  God  for  righteous- 
ness, the  one  kpxoiievog,  in  whom  alone  that  nature  which  is  in  all  men 
has  not  degenerated  into  sin.  — Alford. 


CHAPTER    V. 

SERMON    ON    THE   MOUNT THE    SALT    OF   THE    EARTH  —  LIVING    TO 

GOD NEW    TESTAMENT    THE    FULNESS    OF    THE    OLD  —  RIGHT- 
EOUSNESS  OF  PHARISEES  —  LAW  OF  GOD   REACHES   MOTIVES  AND 

FEELING  S QUARRELS  —  SEVENTH     COMMANDMENT OATHS 

SACRIFICES  —  ALMS. 

In  the  sublime  and  truly  precious  chapter  I  ha^  read, 
we  have  the  first  discourse  delivered  by  Jesus,  in  his  ca- 
pacity of  the  great  Prophet  and  Teacher  of  his  people ; 
and,  surely,  no  morality  that  ever  flowed  from  the  lips  or 
was  written  with  the  pen  of  man  can  be  compared  with  this 
for  depth,  for  purity,  for  applicability  to  all  the  states,  the 
circumstances,  the  wants,  the  peculiarities  of  the  human 
family;  and  it  needs  no  prophet's  vision  in  order  to  see 
that,  if  this  chapter  were  made  actual  in  the  life  and  conduct 
of  all  mankind,  the  moral  deserts  of  the  earth  would  be  re- 
claimed, and  its  wildest  wildernesses  would  blossom  as  the 
rose.  One  feels,  in  his  inmost  conscience,  that  the  law  laid 
down  here  is  right,  and  true,  and  beautiful,  and  good. 
There  is  a  response,  more  or  less,  to  it  in  the  worst  of  con- 
sciences, —  an  admission  that  it  is  good,  even  when  corrupt 
passions  so  sway  the  will  that  it  apostatizes  to  that  which  is 
evil. 

Jesus  sat  down  upon  a  mountain :  this  was  the  attitude 
of  ancient  teachers.  In  modern  times  we  stand  up  to  speak, 
and  the  people  who  listen  sit  down.  In  ancient  times  the 
speaker  sat,  and  the  people  not  unfrequently  stood.     You 


MATTHEW  V.  33 

read  in  another  passage  that  Jesus  opened  the  Book  of  the 
Law,  and  read  from  the  prophet  Isaiah,  standing  while  he 
read  it ;  and  then,  closing  the  book,  he  sat  down  and  ad- 
dressed the  people.  Jesus  here  sat  upon  a  mountain,  his 
sublime  pulpit,  and  the  vast  mass  assembled  was  his  con- 
gregation ;  and,  according  to  the  ancient  and  Eastern  phrase- 
ology, "  he  opened  his  mouth,  and  taught  them." 

How  beautifully  the  first  sermon  comes  —  it  dawns  in 
benedictions,  it  breaks  in  blessings.  His  first  miracle  was 
at  a  marriage  feast,  sweetening  nature's  joys  before  he  went 
forth  to  sympathize  with  nature's  sorrows ;  and  his  first 
sermon  is  a  sermon  not  denouncing  w^rath,  nor  threatening 
punishment,  but  breaking  in  the  multiplying  and  varying 
lights  and  colors  of  the  most  precious  benedictions :  — 
"  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit."  "  Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn."  "  Blessed  are  the  meek."  "  Blessed  are  they 
which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness."  "  Blessed 
are  the  merciful,  the  pure  in  heart,  and  the  peacemakers." 
He  pronounces  his  blessings,  not  upon  outward  states,  but 
upon  inward  character.  It  is  the  inner  heart  that  makes 
the  outer  state  ;  it  is  not  the  outer  state  that  guarantees  the 
inner  heart.  There  are  royal  hearts  clothed  in  rags, — 
there  are  mean  and  vulgar  ones  clothed  in  purple,  in  ermine, 
and  in  fine  linen  every  day.  Wherever  there  is  holiness 
and  happiness  within,  all  must  be  sunshine  without.  Where- 
ever  there  is  storm,  impurity,  remorse,  sin,  tumultuous 
passion  within,  all  must  be  misery  and  wretchedness  with- 
out. 

He  proceeds,  after  pronouncing  these  benedictions,*  to 
tell  his  people,  not  the  apostles  only,  but  the  multitude  that 
believed,  the  disciples,  all  Christians,  —  "  Ye  are  the  salt  of 
the  earth."  It  does  not  mean  that  all  professors  are  so,  but 
that  all  true  Christians  are  so.     Now,  what  is  the  character 

=*  I  hope  to  give  these  benedictions  in  a  small  volume. 


34  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

of  salt  ?  Not  only  has  it  a  virtue  peculiar  to  itself,  but  that 
virtue  it  never  selfishly  retains,  it  always  liberally  commu- 
nicates. So  Christians  have  a  divine  virtue,  not  for  selfish 
monopoly,  but  for  continuous  diffusion.  "  But  if  the  salt 
have  lost  its  savor."  Some  have  said  that  common  table 
salt  (muriate  of  soda  —  muriatic  acid  with  soda  for  its  base) 
never  can  lose  its  savor.  But  it  may  undergo  some  decom- 
position which  may  cause  it  to  lose  its  virtue.  Eastern 
travellers  say  that  on  the  banks  of  the  Dead  vSea  there  is 
what  seems  to  be  salt,  but  that  it  is  now  destitute  of  all 
savor.  But,  whether  possible  or  not,  the  hypothesis  is  as- 
sumed as  the  basis  of  an  argument ;  and  we  are  taught  that 
if  it  have  ceased  to  communicate  its  virtue,  then  it  has  lost 
what  constitutes  its  only  value  —  "  it  is  thenceforth  good  for 
nothing,  but  to  be  cast  out,  and  to  be  trodden  underfoot." 
Some  have  thought  that  the  salt  here  alluded  to  is  not  the 
common  culinary  salt,  but  aromatic  salt,  which,  if  it  lack  its 
aroma  by  exposure,  is  worthless,  the  residuum  being  nothing 
more  than  dry  dust,  and  only  fit  "  to  be  cast  out,  and  to  be 
trodden  underfoot."  Whatever  be  the  specific  substance, 
the  idea  is  perfectly  plain,  that  a  Christianity  that  ceases  to 
diffuse  itself,  is  a  Christianity  that  ceases  to  be  real.  The 
heart  of  grace,  like  the  heart  of  nature,  ceases  to  beat  when 
it  ceases  to  circulate  the  tide  that  is  committed  to  it. 

He  says,  "Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world;"  that  is,  all 
true  Christians  are  so.  Now,  what  is  light  ?  You  cannot 
conceive  light  without  attaching  to  it  the  idea  of  diffusion. 
Radiation  is  inseparable  from  the  idea  of  light.  Now,  "  a 
city,"  it  is  said,  "  that  is  set  upon  a  hill "  —  a  lofty  city,  with 
its  spires  sparkling  in  rising  and  in  setting  suns,  must  be 
seen  from  afar.  A  city  with  splendid  architecture,  lighted 
up  with  all  its  lamps  in  its  streets,  must  be  visible  from  afar. 
So  that  if  you  be  true  Christians,  a  congregation  of  real 
believers,  it  is  impossible  that  the  world  can  fail  to  take 
notice  that  you  are  so.     There  will  be  something  distinctive, 


MATTHEW    V.  35 

peculiar,  inseparable  from  Christians,  that  will  break  from 
you  as  rays  from  the  sun,  which  must  be  seen. 

And  again,  "  Men  do  not  light  a  candle  to  put  it  under  a 
bushel."  If  a  candle  be  lighted,  it  is  meant  to  give  light  to 
some  one  :  putting  a  candle  under  a  bushel  is  so  absurd  that 
you  can  hardly  conceive  it  possible. 

"  Let  your  light,"  he  therefore  says,  "  so  shine  before  men, 
that  they  may  see  your  good  works."  I  think  there  may  be 
as  much  sin  in  what  is  called  a  scrupulous  reserve,  as  there 
is  in  an  ostentatious  parade.  We  are  neither  to  display  our 
good  works  for  ostentation,  nor  are  we  to  conceal  them  out 
of  what  we  may  call  modesty,  —  yet  not  truly  so,  but  an  un- 
healthy scrupulosity,  —  but  we  are  to  let  them  be  seen  ;  so 
that  not  we  who  work  them,  but  God  who  inspires  them, 
may  get  the  glory.  So,  when  some  persons  say,  "  Such  a 
one  takes  care  that  others  may  know  what  he  does,"  I  can 
conceive  a  person  doing  this  from  the  purest  of  motives  and 
for  the  best  of  ends.  It  ought  to  be  recollected  that,  if  we 
be  light,  it  is  impossible  that  we  can  be  hidden ;  if  we  be 
light,  it  is  impossible  that  we  can  be  wholly  invisible ;  if  we 
be  salt,  it  is  impossible  that  we  can  cease  to  be  felt  or 
tasted  at  all ;  and  if  we  be  Christians  at  all,  we  shall  do 
our  good  works  in  that  self-sacrificing,  unostentatious  spirit 
and  way,  which  will  give  glory  to  Him  who  is  the  Author  of 
them,  and  not  set  them  forth  as  canvassers  for  praise  to  us 
who  do  them. 

Our  Lord  next  lays  down  a  very  important  lesson :  —  • 
*'  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the 
prophets  :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  For 
verily  I  say  unto  you.  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or 
one  tittle  shall  in  nowise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be  ful- 
filled." In  other  words,  the  New  Testament  is  not  to  super- 
sede the  Old,  but  to  be  its  complement.  The  word  "  fulfil " 
does  not  mean  to  lay  aside  what  was,  and  to  substitute  a 
new  thing  that  was  not ;  but  it  means,  to  take  hold  of  what 


36  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

was,  and  fill  up  its  empty  spaces,  complete  what  seem  to  be 
its  deficiencies,  and  wherever  it  came  short,  there  to  make 
it  perfect  and  cemplete.  So  Jesus  says,  "  I  am  not  come  to 
do  away  with  the  law,"  which  was  the  bud,  "  but  to  develop 
that  law  "  into  the  blossom,  which  is  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures.  I  am  come,  not  to  silence  the  Old  Testament, 
but  to  show  its  divine  original,  by  adding  to  it  that  which  is 
its  complement,  its  perfection,  and  its  fulness,  —  the  New 
Testament. 

"  Whoever,  therefore,  shall  break  one  of  these  least  com- 
mandments, and  shall  teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called  "  — 
that  is,  shall  be  — "  the  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 
speaking  of  teachers. 

And  then  he  says,  "  Except  your  righteousness  shall  ex- 
ceed the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall 
in  no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Their 
righteousness  was  outside,  formal,  hypocritical,  ostentatious. 
Ours  must  have  its  roots  in  the  heart,  its  inspiration  from 
God,  its  fruits  in  the  life,  —  the  latter  dependent  on  the 
former. 

Then  he  shows  specimens  of  fulfilling  the  law.  For 
instance,  "  It  was  said  by  them  of  old  time  ; "  that  is,  by 
the  children  of  the  bondwoman,  the  traditional  interpreters 
of  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  and  whosoever  shall  kill 
shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment,"  speaking  of  it  as  a 
national  offence ;  "  but  I  say  unto  you.  The  law  is  more  than 
that  That  is  the  external  law^,  but  I  will  tell  you  what  is 
its  inner  spirit,  that  gives  its  external  shape  all  its  vitality 
and  all  its  virtue.  The  shell  is,  Thou  shalt  not  kill ;  the 
inner  kernel  is,  Whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother  with- 
out a  cause,  shall  be  in  danger  of  what  you  scribes  and 
Pharisees  call  the  judgment :  and  whosoever  shall  say  to 
his  brother,  Raca,"  an  offensive  epithet, "  shall  be  in  danger 
of  the  council,"  that  was,  a  legal  tribunal ;  "  but  whosoever 
shall  say.  Thou  fool,"  that  is,  in  the  spirit  of  it,  in  wrath, 


MATTHEAV    V.  37 

and  in  anger,  "  shall  be  in  danger  of  hell  fire."  All  these 
are  simply  illustrations  of  the  passion  of  anger,  revenge,  or 
malice  towards  a  brother,  cherished  and  fanned  in  the  human 
heart ;  and  the  object  of  it  is  to  show  that  you  will  not  only 
be  in  danger  of  punishment  by  actually  killing,  but  that  you 
are  guilty  of  murder  in  principle,  if  you  entertain  towards 
a  brother  without  a  cause,  anger,  wrath,  malice,  ill-will, 
uncharitableness.  J^"^  other  words,  the  law  not  only  covers 
the  life,  but  extends  to  the  inmost  heart.  Christ's  law  deals, 
not  with  facts  only,  which  human  law  does,  but  with  prin- 
ciples and  passions,  which  human  law  cannot  do. 

Then  he  says,  "  If  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and 
there  rememberest  that  thy  brother  hath  ought  against 
thee  ;  leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar."  This  does  not 
assume  that  there  is  an  altar  in  the  Christian  Church :  there 
is  none;  but  he  takes  the  language  of  the  existing  economy, 
when  and  where  there  w^as  an  altar,  for  it  was  the  Jewish 
economy,  and  he  says,  if  any  one  go  to  church  to  pray  and 
to  worship,  and  recollect  that  he  has  a  quarrel  wdth  a  brother, 
he  ought  to  make  up  that  quarrel.  If  any  one  come  to  the 
Lord's  table,  which  is  not  an  altar,  to  partake  of  the  Com- 
munion, which  is  not  a  propitiatory  sacrifice,  but  a  sacrifice  of 
thanksgiving  and  praise,  he  should  first  be  reconciled  to  his 
brother  before  he  comes  there.  In  other  words,  love  to 
God  never  can  exist  before  there  is  love  to  our  brethren  of 
mankind.  The  two  sections  of  the  law  are  inseparable  ;  the 
one  cannot  be  honored,  and  the  other  dishonored. 

The  great  Teacher  next  alludes  to  impure  thoughts  and 
passions  as  forbidden  in  the  seventh  commandment.  The 
expression  "  to  look  on  "  means  to  look  on  with  evil  desire, 
appetite,  and  impure  passion  ;  it  is  not  the  random  thought, 
but  the  deliberate  purpose,  intention,  and  design  to  sin  if  he 
can  — -  that  is  the  idea  embodied  in  that  statement. 

"  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,"  it  was  said,  "  let 
him  give  her  a  waiting  of  divorcement,"  —  a  very  common 
4 


38  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

practice,  carried  to  the  most  extravagant  extent ;  but  he 
says  that  ftiere  is  but  one  reason  for  dissolving  that  bond,  — 
all  others  are  invalid,  —  and  that  whosoever  puts  away  his 
wife  for  any  thing  short  of  that  is  guilty  along  with  her  of 
the  highest  offence. 

"  Again,  ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said  by  them  of 
old  time,  Thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself,  but  shalt  perform 
unto  the  Lord  thine  oaths:  but  I  say^unto  you.  Swear  not 
at  all."  That  this  expression  is  to  be  limited  in  its  appli- 
cation seems  to  be  plain,  because  the  apostles  have  used 
expressions  almost  similar  to  this.  An  oath  is  simply  an 
appeal  to  heaven,  or  an  appeal  to  God,  denoting  the  sol- 
emnity, the  earnestness,  and  the  sincerity  of  the  person  who 
makes  a  statement.  Now,  our  Blessed  Redeemer  in  speak- 
ing says,  "  Amen,  Amen,  I  say  unto  you."  That  has  all  the 
solemnity  of  an  oath.  The  Apostle  Paul  uses  language 
which  is  almost,  if  not  altogether,  equivalent  to  an  oath. 
He  says  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  i.  20,  —  "  Now  the 
things  which  I  write  unto  you,  behold,  before  God,  I  lie 
not."  That  is  the  form  of  an  oath  ;  and  therefore,  it  does 
not  mean  that  an  oath  in  a  public  court,  required  by  public 
authority  and  solemn  circumstances,  is  invalid,  but  that  the 
habit  of  swearing  that  prevailed  amongst  the  Jews,  and  is 
not  yet  rooted  out  among  us,  was  a  sin  and  an  offence  in  the 
sight  of  a  holy  God.  At  the  same  time,  I  think  that  just  as 
Christianity  prevails,  oaths  even  in  public  courts  of  justice 
will  be  dispensed  with.  The  very  requirement  of  an  oath 
is  the  evidence  of  a  very  corrupt  and  unsatisfactory  state  of 
things.  I  think  that  in  courts  of  justice,  where  a  person 
says,  "  I  cannot  conscientiously  take  an  oath,"  he  should 
remember  that  the  same  obligation  to  speak  the  truth,  and 
the  same  responsibility  to  God,  rest  upon  him,  as  would  de- 
volve upon  him  were  he  to  take  an  oath  in  its  accustomed 
form.  I  have  no  doubt  that  as  real  religion  spreads  amongst 
mankind,  oaths  will  be  abolished  ;  and  I  have  not  the  least 


MATTHEW   V.  39 

doubt  that  this  chapter  lays  down  what  is  the  perfection  of 
Christian  life,  and  bids  us  not  rest  with  present  attainments 
until  that  perfect  state  is  ultimately  and  thoroughly  reached. 

Again,  he  shows  that  the  feeling  of  revenge,  "  an  eye  for 
an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,"  is  altogether  inconsistent 
with  Christian  principle. 

I  would  notice  the  passage,  "  If  thy  right  eye  offend  thee, 
pluck  it  out."  You  understand  it  is  not  literal,  it  is  using 
figurative  language  to  denote  sacrifices  for  Christ's  sake. 
Whatever  stands  in  your  way  to  heaven,  give  it  up.  What- 
ever prevents  your  acting  in  conformity  with  God's  will, 
however  profitable,  give  it  up.  If  it  be  dear  as  a  right  eye, 
all,  father,  mother,  sister,  and  brother,  and  houses  and  lands, 
all  must  be  given  up  for  Christ's  sake. 

Again,  he  uses  language  which  also  must  not  be  taken  in 
its  strict  sense.  "  If  any  man  will  sue  thee  at  the  law,  and 
take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak,"  that  is,  thy 
under  garment,  "  also.  And  whosoever  shall  compel  thee 
to  go  a  mile,  go  with  him  twain.  Give  to  him  that  asketh 
thee,  and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou 
away."  Well,  all  that  obviously  must  be  construed  and 
accepted  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter,  just  as  the  ex- 
pression, "  If  thy  right  hand  oifend  thee,  cut  it  off,"  must  be 
taken  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter.  The  text  that 
embodies  it  all  is  given  by  an  apostle,  when  he  says,  "  as 
much  as  lieth  in  you,  live  peaceably  with  all  men."  Rather 
than  have  a  quarrel,  give  thy  upper  as  well  as  thy  under 
coat.  Rather  than  go  to  law,  and  contend  there,  and  lose 
all,  and  your  temper  too,  sacrifice  something  at  the  begin- 
ning. And  that  the  expression  is  not  to  be  taken  in  its 
strict  and  literal  sense,  is  plain  from  this,  —  "  Give  to  him- 
that  asketh  thee."  If  you  were  to  give  to  every  one  who 
asks  you,  you  would  be  like  a  neighboring  and  rather  no- 
torious gentleman,  who  gives  to  all  the  beggars  of  London, 
and  whose  life  is  therefore  rendered  miserable  to  himselfj 


40  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

and  to  others  by  his  vast  retinue.  The  expression  implies 
discrimination.  Sometimes  if  a  person  desires  to  borrow,  it 
is  a  duty  to  lend  ;  but  often  it  would  be  an  injury  both  to 
the  borrower  and  yourself  so  to  do.  Such  expressions  as 
these  are  clearly  to  be  taken  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  are 
written ;  for  the  letter  might  kill,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life. 

Then  he  concludes  the  whole  of  this  most  beautiful  chap- 
ter, "  That  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is 
in  heaven  :  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on 
the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust." 
You  must  always  in  these  things  err  on  the  safe  side. 
Rather  give  to  two  undeserving  j^ersons,  than  send  a  de- 
serving one  away  empty.  Act  in  the  spirit  -of  him  who 
makes  his  rain  to  fall  upon  the  bad  man's  garden  as  well  as 
upon  the  good  man's,  and  his  sun  to  rise  upon  the  evil  and 
the  good. 

And  then  he  says,  "  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect."  That  does  not  here 
mean  perfect  in  the  sense  of  perfectly  holy,  but  the  word  is 
used  as  the  apostle  uses  it  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  — 
"  Go  on  unto  perfection"  —  be  ye  perfect,  do  not  be  one- 
sided, act  on  broad,  liberal,  enlightened  principles,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Gospel,  and  of  Christian  charity,  and  after  tlie 
example,  and  according  to  the  prescription,  of'  that  Father 
who  is  in  heaven,  and  who  is  perfect. 

Beautiful  and  perfect  law  !  May  he  who  spake  it  seal  it, 
and  write  it  upon  our  hearts,  and  to  his  name  be  the  praise. 
Amen. 


Note.  —  Elisha  healed  the  unwholesome  water  by  means  of  salt  (2 
Kings  ii.  20)  ;  and  the  ordinary  use  of  salt  for  culinary  purposes  is  to 
prevent  putrefection:  so  (see  Gen.  xviii.23 — 33)  are  the  righteous,  the 
people  of  God,  in  this  corrupt  Avorld.  It  hardly  seems  necessary  to 
find  instances  of  the  actual  occurrence  of  salt  losing  its  savor,  for  this 
is  merely  hypothetical ;  yet  it  is  perhaps  worth  noticing,  that  Maun- 


MATTHEW    V.  41 

drell,  in  his  travels,  found  salt  in  the  Valley  of  Salt,  near  Gehul, 
which  had  the  appearance  but  not  the  taste,  having  lost  it  by  exposure 
to  the  elements  [but  qu.  1]  :  and  that  Schottgen  maintains  that  a  kind 
of  bitumen  from  the  Dead  Sea  was  called  "  Sal  Sodomiticus,"  and 
was  used  to  sprinkle  the  sacrifices  in  the  temple ;  which  salt  was  used 
when  its  savor  was  gone  to  strew  the  temple  pavement,  that  the  priests 
might  not  slip.  This,  however,  is  but  poorly  made  out  by  him.  — 
Alford. 

4* 


CHAPTER    VI. 

SPRINGS     OF     MORALITY  —  MOTIVES PRAYER  —  OUR      FATHER  — 

PRIMITIVE   WORSHIP AMEN  —  FASTING INSURANCE  —  CARES. 

Last  Sabbath  evening  we  read  the  5th  chapter,  which 
consists  of  benedictions  pronounced  upon  certain  characters, 
and  also  upon  the  observance  of  certain  practical  and  obvi- 
ous duties,  either  misunderstood  by  the  Jews,  or  merged  in 
their  traditions,  and  not  felt  to  be  obligatory  in  all  the  length 
and  breadth  in  which  our  Saviour  shows  them  to  be.  In 
this  chapter  we  read  of  the  springs,  roots,  or  sources  of  these 
duties.  In  the  oth  he  deals  with  acts,  in  the  6th  chapter  he 
deals  with  principles  ;  and  therefore  he  begins  the  chapter 
by  saying,  "  Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms  before  men 
to  be  seen  of  them  :  otherwise  ye  have  no  reward  of  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven ; "  and  then  he  guards  them 
against  the  practice  of  the  Pharisees,  who  sounded  a  trum- 
pet, which  may  be  a  proverbial  expression  for  making  a 
parade,  or,  as  we  should  call  it  now,  putting  an  advertise- 
ment in  the  paper,  when  they  did  their  alms,  and  with  this 
object,  that  they  might  have  glory  of  men.  Now,  the  great 
sin  that  is  condemned  in  this  passage  is,  not  letting  men 
know  what  you  do,  but  the  motive  and  the  end  which  you 
have  in  view  in  letting  it  be  known.  If  you  let  what  you 
do  be  known  with  discretion  and  prudence,  and  absence  of 
all  self-laudation,  your  object  being,  that  others  may  be 
stimulated  to  follow  your  example,  and  so  give  glory  to 
your  Father  wlio  is  in  heaven,  you  do  not  only  what  is  right, 
but  what  is  expedient  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  for  the  good 


MATTHEW    VI.  43 

of  mankind.  But  if  the  object  that  you  have  in  view  is, 
that  others  may  say,  "  How  charitable  is  such  a  one  !  how 
liberal  is  such  a  one !  "  if  your  object  be  to  show  that  you 
are  more  munificent,  or  richer,  or  better  than  others,  then 
you  inherit  the  succession  of  the  ancient  Pharisees,  —  you 
do  it  to  get  praise  from  men  ;  and  if  you  get  it,  you  get  all 
the  reward  you  have  reason  to  expect,  or  that  can  possibly 
follow  you.  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Ye  have  your  reward." 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  when  you  do  alms,  you  conceal 
from  -a  person  on  the  left-hand  what  you  have  done  with 
your  right,  and  give  your  alms,  or  your  contribution  to  a 
spiritual  or  charitable  object,  from  the  purest  motives,  laying 
it  upon  Christ  the  altar,  and  letting  the*  amount  be  known 
only  to  Him  to  whom  all  hearts  are  open,  and  from  whom 
no  secrets  are  hid,  then  your  reward  is,  "There  is  that 
scattereth  and  yet  increaseth ;  and  he  that  watereth  others 
shall  be  watered  himself ; "  and  you  will  be  satisfied  with  so 
munificent  a  reward,  when  you  receive  it.  It  is,  therefore, 
the  motive  that  gives  its  coloring  to  the  act ;  it  is  the  design 
you  have  in  view  that  gives  its  tone,  —  its  moral  character 
and  bearing,  to  what  the  hand  does.  If  the  heart  be  right, 
the  hand  will  be  loyal  and  obedient  to  it.  If  the  heart  be 
wrong,  the  most  splendid  deed,  outwardly  seeming  so,  is  the 
most  hateful  in  the  sight  of  God.  And  hence,  you  are  not 
to  measure  a  man's  charity  by  what  he  holds  in  his  hand, 
but  by  what  he  feels  in  his  heart.  Many  a  rich  man  puts 
pounds  in  a  plate  at  a  charitable  collection,  and  gives  truly 
nothing;  many  a  poor  widow  casts  her  mite  therein,  who 
gives  truly  and  munificently  her  all.  It  is  what  is  in  the 
heart,  not  what  is  in  the  purse,  that  determines  the  char- 
acter and  the  claims  of  him  who  gives.  God  can  judge,  we 
cannot. 

Then  He  speaks  of  prayer.  When  you  pray,  you  are 
not  to  pray  standing  in  the  corners  of  the  streets.  The 
charge  here  is  not  against  standing.     The  Jews  frequently 


44  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

Stood  in  prayer ;  indeed,  kneeling  would  have  been  the 
more  ostentatious  mode  in  the  synagogue.  The  publican 
stood,  and  yet  he  prayed  rightly.  It  is  not  the  attitude  that 
makes  prayer,  it  is  the  heart.  You  may  kneel,  or  stand,  or 
sit,  —  you  may  be  in  the  sanctuary,  or  upon  the  sea  sand, — 
you  may  be  tossed  against  the  gale  on  the  ocean's  bosom,  or 
you  may  be  in  the  coal-pit,  or  on  the  Alpine  height;  it 
matters  not  where  you  are,  it  matters  not  what  the  formula 
is ;  if  there  be  the  praying  heart,  praying  in  the  only  name, 
there  there  is  prayer  that  rises  faster  than  an  angel's  wing 
can  clip,  and  receives  a  response  exceeding  abundantly  above 
all  that  we  can  either  ask  or  think.  True,  forms  are  beau- 
tiful, expressions  of  religion  are  desirable;  and  if  we 
approach  an  earthly  sovereign  with  acts  of  reverence,  we 
cannot  do  wrong  —  nay,  we  must  so  far  be  doing  right  —  in 
approaching  the  King  of  kings  in  the  most  reverential  way 
in  which  it  is  possible  to  do  so ;  only  remember,  it  is  not 
the  bowed  knee,  but  the  bowed  heart,  that  is  true  humility 
and  devotion  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  and,  therefore,  when  you 
pray,  do  not  stand  and  bid  people  come  and  see  how  elo- 
quently you  can  pray,  —  how  gifted  you  are  with  prayer; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  go  into  your  closet,  (speaking  of  pri- 
vate prayer,)  and  there  pray  alone,  and  your  Father,  who 
heareth  and  seeth  in  secret,  will  reward  you  openly. 

And  again,  "  When  ye  pray,  use  not  vain  repetitions,  as 
the  heathen  do."  This  does  not  mean  that  you  may  not  use 
the  same  words  over  again.  Our  blessed  Lord  three  times 
prayed  in  the  very  same  words,  — "  If  it  be  possible,  let 
this  cup*  pass  from  me."  The  meaning  of  it  is,  that  you  are 
not  to  suppose  that  the  length  of  the  prayer  is  the  measure 
of  the  devotion  that  inspires  it.  You  are  not  to  suppose 
that  God  will  hear  a  long  prayer,  which  cost  you  great 
labor,  and  that  he  will  be  deaf  to  a  short  prayer  that  leaps 
living  from  the  heart.  It  is,  in  fact,  guarding  you  from  the 
Romish  system,  which  is  this,  that  twenty,  thirty,  or  a  hun- 


MATTHEW   VI.  45 

dred  pater-?iosiers  repeated  with  the  lips,  are  far  more  effica- 
cious than  a  living  "  Our  Father  "  breathed  from  the  heart. 
In  other  words,  it  is  not  the  number  of  times  that  you  pray, 
or  the  form  in  which  you  pray,  but  the  spirit  in  which  you 
pray,  that  constitutes  true  devotion.  You  may  pray  with  a 
liturgy,  or  without  one,  and  there  may  be  no  real  prayer ; 
or  you  may  pray  with  a  liturgy,  or  without  one,  and  there 
may  be  real  prayer.  You  may  pray  kneeling,  standing, 
sitting,  on  the  way-side,  or  in  the  sanctuary ;  you  may  pray 
in  few  words,  or  in  many  words ;  it  is  the  heart  that  God 
looks  to :  he  listens  not  to  the  expressions  of  the  lip,  but  to 
the  beatings  of  the  heart.  As  a  man  feels,  so  is  he  in  God's 
holy  sight. 

He  then  proceeds  to  give  a  model  of  prayer.  I  do  not 
think  that  he  prescribes  it  as  a  liturgy ;  that  is,  that  you  are 
always  bound  to  use  these  words ;  because  in  each  Gospel 
the  words  differ :  but  he  does  prescribe  it  as  a  key-note,  if  I 
may  use  the  expression,  to  all  prayer,  as  a  great  and  beau- 
tiful model  of  simplicity,  earnestness,  and  filial  devotion. 
And  I  know  nothing  so  expressive,  so  comprehensive,  so 
exhaustive  of  all  that  man  can  want,  as  that  most  simple, 
yet  most  magnificent  liturgy,  the  Lord's  Prayer.  It  begins 
with  that  beautiful  address,  which  a  heathen  never  dreamed 
of,  which  the  Jew  dimly  comprehended,  which  the  Christian 
feels,  because  he  has  the  "  spirit  of  adoption,"  "  Our 
Father  "  —  not  "  my  Father,"  for  that  would  be  selfish  ; 
but,  kneeling  with  the  whole  family  of  believers,  "  our 
Father."  And  then  it  says,  "  Our  Father,  Avhich  art  in 
heaven."  Not  the  pantheistic  deity,  all  things  being  God, 
and  God  being  all  things ;  but  the  God  who  is  a  jjersonal 
Being,  whose  throne  is  in  the  heavens,  who  is  highly  ex- 
alted above  all,  at  the  seat  and  source  of  jurisdiction,  of 
empire,  of  beneficence,  and  of  power.  "  Hallowed  be  thy 
name."  Not  the  word,  but  all  that  is  comprehended  in 
God's  name,  may  it  be  regarded  as  a  holy  thing.     It  is  the 


46  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

holiest  thing  in  the  universe ;  and  to  feel  a  sense  of  its 
majesty,  and  to  seek  that  it  may  be  revered  as  holy  over  all 
the  earth,  is  what  we  here  pray  for.  "  Thy  kingdom  come." 
Not  man's,  not  Luther's,  not  Calvin's,  but  "thy  kingdom 
come."  "  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,"  which  is  our  sanctifi- 
cation.  Not  our  will,  which  often  runs  cross  to  it,  but  "  thy 
will  be  done  on  earth,"  just  as  perfectly,  as  continuously, 
"  as  it  is  done  in  heaven."  This  ends  the  first  half;  for 
you  will  notice  the  prayer  is  divided  into  two  parts.  The 
first  part  contains  an  unfolding  of  the  riches  of  God  ;  the 
last  part  contains  an  expression  of  the  emptiness  of  man. 
The  first  part  is,  "Thy  will,"  "Thy  kingdom,"  "Thy 
name ; "  the  last  part  is  "  Give  us,"  "  Forgive  us,"  "  Lead 
us  not,"  "  Deliver  us."  In  other  words,  the  praying  man 
proclaims,  as  he  adores,  the  fulness  of  his  Father,  and  begs 
supply  for  what  he  admits,  the  emptiness  of  himself.  He 
first  seeks  God's  glory ;  he  next  asks  for  his  own  satisfac- 
tion. In  the  second  half,  the  first  petition  is,  "  Give  us  this 
day  "  —  not  a  fortune,  as  so  many  toil,  and  travail,  and 
labor  for,  but  —  "our  daily  'bread."  What  a  beautiful 
commentary  uj)on  this  is  the  prayer  of  Agur  !  "  Give  me 
not  riches,  lest  I  forget  thee"  —  there  is  the  temptation; 
"  give  me  not  poverty,  lest  I  steal "  —  there  is  the  tempta- 
tion there ;  "  give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  but  feed 
me  with  food  convenient  for  me."  That  prayer  is  too  grand 
to  have  a  human  origin ;  it  needs  but  to  be  known  to  show 
upon  its  brow  the  signature  of  its  author,  God.  "  Give  us 
this  day  our  daily  bread."  And  then  the  next  very  natural 
petition  is,  as  sinners,  "  Forgive  us  our  debts."  We  owe 
all,  and  can  pay  nothing ;  and,  therefore,  God  must  frankly 
forgive  us  all,  or  we  cannot  be  forgiven.  And  we  ask  him 
in  this  spirit  —  "as  we  forgive  others."  The  man  who  has 
no  forgiving  spirit  to  a  brother,  never  had  yet  a  praying 
spirit  for  forgiveness  from  a  father.  The  best  test  that  we 
ourselves,  conscious  of  our  sins,  have  sued  in  the  right  spirit 


MATTHEW   VI.  47 

for  pardon,  is,  that  the  reflection  and  reaction  of  that  feel- 
ing shows  itself  in  ample  and  heart-felt  forgiveness  towards 
all  who  have  grieved  and  offended  us.  And  then  he  adds, 
"Lead  us  not  into  temptation;"  that  is,  "Do  not  lead  us 
into  a  temptation  we  cannot  withstand.  If  we  are  led  into 
it,  perfect  thy  strength  in  our  weakness,  or,  at  all  events, 
deliver  us  from  the  evil  of  it.  Give  us  the  pain,  if  that 
pain  shall  be  good  for  us,  but  save  us  from  the  evil  or  sin 
of  that  temptation."  And  then  he  adds,  "  Thou  hast  power 
to  do  all  this ;  for  thine  is  the  kingdom  —  not  ours  —  and 
thine  also  is  the  power  to  do  all,  an^  thine,  at  the  winding 
up  of  all,  will  be  the  glory  of  all.  Amen,"  which  means, 
"  So  be  it,"  or  "  Verily."  When  our  blessed  Lord  says  in 
the  Gospels,  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,"  it  ought  to 
be  translated,  "  I,  the  Amen,  the  Amen,  say  unto  you."  In 
the  Hebrew,  that  beautiful  passage,  "  I  will  give  him  living 
waters,"  is  "  I  will  give  him  Amen  waters."  And  again,  it 
is  said,  "A  covenant  in  all  things  stablished,  lasting,  and 
sure,"  but  literally  it  is,  "An  Amen  covenant."  The  mean- 
ing of  "  Amen  "  is,  "  so  be  iff"  The  practice  of  the  ancient 
Church,  as  to  the  use  of  this  Avord,  we  read  in  the  words  of 
Justin  Martyr,  in  an  apology  that  he  addressed  to  the 
Emperor,  an  apology  meaning  a  defence.  He  gives  a  pic- 
ture of  the  Christian  service  on  the  Sabbath,  and  it  appears 
from  his  short  epitome  of  it,  that,  first  of  all,  they  praised 
God  by  singing,  as  Pliny  calls  it  on  another  occasion,  a 
hymn  together.  He  then  says  that  the  President  of  the 
brethren  offered  up  prayers  just  as  he  was  able;  plainly  at 
that  day,  however  useful  on  subsequent  occasions  forms  may 
be,  extemporary  prayers.  Then,  it  is  added,  the  Scriptures 
were  read,  and  then  wine  mixed  with  water,  and  bread, 
were  blessed  and  distributed  amongst  the  brethren;  —  but  not 
a  word  is  said  here  about  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  or  tran- 
substantiation,  but  wine  and  bread  blessed  by  the  President, 
and  distributed  to  the  brethren.     And  he  adds,  that  at  the 


48  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

end  of  the  minister's  prayers,  which  were  extemporaneous, 
all  the  people  said  aloud,  "Amen,"  meaning,  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  whole  congregation  to  the  petitions  addressed 
to  the  throne  of  grace ;  but  whether  it  be  said  audibly  or 
not,  it  ought  to  be  said  by  the  heart.  In  our  Scottish 
Church,  when  the  minister  prays,  he  does  not  pray  for  you, 
as  if  he  were  a  priest ;  he  is  simply  the  mouth-piece  of  the 
congregation.  I  think  it  is  a  very  beautiful  feature  in  the 
sister  Church  of  England,  that  when  the  prayers  are 
offered,  the  minister  is  upon  the  floor  as  their  mouth-piece ; 
a  leader,  and  no  mojjp;  but  it  is  very  important,  that 
whether  he  be  above  you  or  below  you  should  remem- 
ber this,  —  that  when  he  prays,  he  is  not  praying  for  you, 
but  trying  to  put  into  words  your  deepest  and  truest  wants ; 
so  that  it  is  you  that  pray,  and  not  he  only  who  prays.  We 
must  get  rid  of  that  horrid  idea  of  a  priesthood  in  the 
church.  We  have  but  one  High-Priest,  who  is  beside  the 
throne  ever  living  to  make  intercession  for  us. 

Our  blessed  Lord  then  reasons  very  beautifully,  showing 
that,  if  we  have  not  the  spirit  t)f  forgiveness,  we  cannot  be 
forgiven. 

Then  it  is  said,  "  When  ye  fast,  be  not,  as  the  hypocrites, 
of  a  sad  countenance."  In  tKe  Roman  Catholic  Church 
they  fast  as  a  merit ;  but  our  blessed  Lord  does  not  say 
here  you  must  fast ;  but  "  when  ye  fast."  Then,  the  ques- 
tion is.  When  should  we  fast  ?  I  answer.  Just  wdien  your 
own  common  sense,  enlightened  by  God's  Holy  Spirit, 
shows  it  to  be  best  for  you.  If  you  feel  that  your  fasting 
to-day  will  assist  your  communion  with  God  in  prayer  to- 
morrow, then  you  ought  to  fast ;  but  if  I  am  satisfied  that, 
by  fasting,  the  reverse  would  be  the  result,  then  it  is  my 
duty  not  to  fast ;  and  perhaps  the  best  way  is,  neither  to 
fast  nor  to  feast,  —  neither  to  have  a  Carnival  nor  a  Lent, 
but  to  eat  and  drink  to  the  glory  of  God,  not  to  meet  exact- 
ing appetites,  but  what  is  sufficient  for  us.     I  have  always 


MATTHEW    VI.  49 

noticed  that  the  greatest  fastee  of  the  one  day  is  the  great- 
est feastee  of  the  next;  and  in  the  Romish  Church  the 
Carnival  and  the  Lent  play  at  seesaw,  the  one  compensat- 
ing for  the  other.  "  When  ye  fast,  be  not,  as  the  hypocrites, 
of  a  sad  countenance:  for  they  disfigure  their  faces"  — 
they  put  on  a  melancholy  appearance.  Now,  it  appears  to 
me  that  a  joyous  face  is  more  like  the  index  of  Christianity 
than  a  melancholy  one. 

And  then  he  says,  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
upon  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  break  through  and  steal :  but  lay  up  for  yourselves 
treasures  in  heaven."  Some  Christians  —  not,  I  think,  of 
enlightened  consciences,  but  of  what  are  called  scrupulous 
consciences,  that  is,  who  have  feverish  consciences,  —  have 
said,  "  Then  we  ought  not  to  lay  up  any  thing  at  all ;  we 
ought  not  to  insure  our  lives."  I  know  some  excellent 
ministers,  who  have  said  that  it  is  positively  sinful  to  insure 


labor  for  the  bread  that  perisheth ;  and  if,  after  having 
given  what  your  heart  shows  to  be  right  to  the  claims  of 
beneficence  and  religion,  there  be  a  surplus,  what  are  you 
to  do  with  it  ?  throw  it  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  ?  or  give  it 
where  you  do  not  see  it  right  to  give  it  ?  No  ;  insure  your 
life ;  and  that  seems  to  me  the  very  perfection  of  social 
Christianity :  it  is  letting  the  burden  that  would  crush  one 
be  distributed  over  twenty ;  it  is  making  a  thousand  bear 
the  burden  that,  if  concentrated  upon  one,  would  have 
crushed  him.  And,  therefore,  I  say  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
young  person,  and  every  newly  married  person,  to  insure 
his  life.  There  are  opportunities  of  doing  so  now  that 
ought  not  to  be  neglected.  I  know  that  some  cannot  do  it ; 
it  is  very  sad,  yet  let  them  be  still  steadfast,  and  still  hope 
on ;  and  a  day  may  come  when  they  can,  and  if  not,  God, 
who  feeds  the  ravens,  will  feed  you.  But  you  are  not  to 
have  your  heart  in  the  insurance  office ;  this  would  be 
5 


50  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

trusting  it,  not  God:  just  insure,  and  leave  it  alone,  and 
think  no  more  of  it. 

The  whole  prescription  at  the  close  of  this  beautiful  chap- 
ter, —  the  ideas  of  which  it  would  take  days  to  exhaust,  — 
is  to  guard  against  over  anxiety,  not  against  proper  and 
just  provision ;  for  if  that  expression,  "  Take  no  thought 
for  your  life,"  —  "  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,"  were 
to  be  interpreted  according  to  our  translation,  it  would  be 
absurd.  We  must  take  thought ;  there  is  not  a  master  of  a 
house  of  business  who  has  not  to  take  thought  before  he 
can  pay  what  is  just,  and  complete  all  his  engagements  aftd 
arrangements  in  the  world.  We  must  think,  and  the  man 
who  does  not  think  will  soon  have  to  taste  the  bitter  conse- 
quences of  it.  The  expression  is  fisptfiva ;  and  if  you  will 
refer  to  a  Greek  Lexicon,  j^ou  will  find  that  it  does  not 
mean  "  thought,"  but  "  carking  and  vexing  anxiety."  To 
take  thought  of  a  thing  is  a  Christian  duty,  but  to  indulge 
in  carking,  irritating  anxiety,  is  sin.  Many  persons  are 
not  satisfied  with  meeting  to-day's  duties  in  to-day's  strength, 
but  they  cast  the  net  into  the  unsounded  future  of  to-mor- 
row ;  they  draw  it  in  shore,  and  in  it  are  all  venomous  rep- 
tiles that  sting  their  hearts  with  a  thousand  anxieties. 
Now,  what  is  the  use  of  tacking  to-day's  troubles  on  to- 
morrow's troubles,  when  you  have  only  to-day's  strength  ? 
God  has  not  promised  strength  for  two  days  at  once,  but  for 
each  day  as  it  dawns  —  "  Sufficient  for  the  day  is  the  trou- 
ble "  (for  that  is  the  translation)  "  thereof."  And  besides, 
thinking  painfully  of  to-morrow  does  not  lighten  the  bur- 
dens of  to-morrow.  Let  us,  therefore,  do  the  duties  of  to- 
day, and  draw  from  the  Fountain  of  strength,  to-morrow, 
strength  for  to-morrow;  and  then  we  shall  find  that,  by 
thus  seeking  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness, 
to-day's  and  to-morrow's  things  shall  be  added  unto  us,  for 
He  has  promised  it.  O  blessed  Lord,  help  us  in  all  our 
ways  thus  to  act ! 


MATTHEW    VI.  51 

Note.  —  [28.]  These  lilies  have  been  supposed  to  be  the  crown 
imperial,  (Fritillaria  iraperialis,)  which  grows  wild  in  Palestine,  or 
the  Amaryllis  lutea  (Sir  J.  E.  Smith,  cited  by  F.  M.)  whose  golden 
liliaceous  flowers  cover  the  autuninal  fields  of  the  Levant.  Probably, 
however,  the  word  here  may  be  taken  in  a  wider  import,  as  signifying 
all  wild  flowers.  Trwf  is  not  interrogative,  but  relative  :  "  how  they 
grow."  [29.]  We  here  have  the  declaration  of  the  Creator  himself 
concerning  the  relative  glory  and  beauty  of  all  human  pomp,  com- 
pared with  the  meanest  of  his  own  works.  (See  2  Chron.  ix.  15-28.) 
And  the  meaning  hidden  beneath  the  text  should  not  escape  the  stu- 
dent. As  the  beauty  of  the  flower  is  unfolded  by  the  divine  Creator 
spirit  from  within,  from  the  laws  and  capacities  of  its  own  individual 
life,  so  must  all  ti'ue  adornment  of  man  be  unfolded  from  within  by 
the  same  Almighty  Spirit.  (See  1  Pet.  iii.  3,  4.)  As  nothing  from 
without  can  defile  a  man  (Matt.  xv.  11),  so  neither  can  anything 
from  without  adorn  him.  — Alford. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

INSPIRED     TEACHING — JUDGING  — SEASON    FOR    EVERY    THING  — 

PRATER — GRAND     SOCIAL     MAXIM — THE     WAY     TO     HEAVEN 

FALSE     TEACHING  —  TESTS     OF     CHARACTER THE     ROCK     THE 

ONLY   SAFE   FOUNDATION  —  AUTHORIZED    TEACHING. 

The  chapter  I  have  read,  closes  that  magnificent  sermon 
delivered  from  the  mountain  pulpit  I  have  already  ex- 
plained, as  reported,  or  recorded,  in  the  5th  and  6th,  and 
now,  lastly,  the  7th  chapters  of  the  Gospel  according  to 
St.  Matthew.  It  is  plainly  the  practical  conclusion  and 
winding  up  of  the  whole  discourse. 

This  chapter  contains  prescriptions  and  directions  that, 
if  carried  out  in  actual  and  living  society,  would  make 
every  desert  rejoice,  and  the  world's  most  wilderness  places 
blossom  even  as  the  rose.  This  one  chapter  if  we  had 
nothing  else  in  the  New  Testament,  would  be  evidence, 
not  simply  that  our  Lord  spake  as  never  man  spake,  but 
that  he  spake  as  God  in  our  nature  might  be  expected  to 
speak. 

The  morality  is  so  pure,  the  motives  so  deep,  and  true, 
and  real,  and  the  practical  fruits  of  these  motives  and  of 
this  morality  so  fragrant  and  beautiful  wherever  it  is  car- 
ried into  fruitage,  that  one  cannot  believe  it  possible  that 
the  publican  Matthew,  an  illiterate,  uncultivated,  inexpe- 
rienced tax-gatherer,  ever  could  have  conceived  or  written 
such  sentiments  out  of  his  own  mind.  The  thing  is  absurd. 
You   might  as  well    expect  Newton's  Princlpia  from  the 


MATTHEW   VII.  53 

humblest  peasant  on  a  hill-side,  as  expect  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  from  the  mind  of  a  publican.  The  fact  is,  that 
the  publican  was  but  the  trumpet,  the  breath  that  spake 
through  it  was  Divine.  Matthew  was  but  the  amanuensis ; 
the  Author  was  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  This  sermon, 
which  appears  to  us  quite  natural,  because  we  are  so  ac- 
customed to  it,  when  compared  with  any  thing  that  ever 
was  known,  or  spoken,  or  written  amongst  mankind,  will 
give  the  clearest  and  the  most  irresistible  evidence  that  the 
publican  Levi,  the  Apostle  St.  Matthew,  spake  as  he  was 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  he  recorded  the  very 
words  and  truths  that  Jesus  spake. 

The  first  prescription  is,  "Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not 
judged."  This  does  not  apply  to  public  and  judicial  per- 
sons, any  more  than  "  Swear  not  at  all "  applies  to  evidence 
in  courts  of  justice.  The  prohibition  is,  not  against  judi- 
cial decisions,  but  against  that  uncharitable,  carping,  acri- 
monious censure,  which  the  world  is  too  prone  to  indulge 
in  ;  and  certainly,  it  means  that  where  you  can  possibly 
form  a  good  opinion,  do  not  form  a  bad  one  ;  and  where  the 
evidence  is  equally  balanced  respecting  any  individual,  or 
any  fact  in  that  individual's  conduct,  rather  than  form  a  bad 
opinion,  do  not  judge  at  all.  Do  not  be  rash  or  hasty  to 
pronounce  censure,  but  wait,  and  watch,  and  study  ;  and  if 
you  can  find  no  reason  for  pronouncing  an  eulogium,  at 
least,  wait,  and  see  if  what  seems  to  indicate  an  opposite 
character  may  not  be  explained  satisfactorily,  and  vin- 
dicated, where  reproach  and  censure  seemed  at  first  to  be 
deserved. 

"  Why  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's 
eye,  but  considerest  not  the  beam  that  is  in  thine  own  eye?" 
Who  is  to  throw  the  first  stone  ?  It  is  not  the  man  who  has 
the  beam  in  his  own  eye,  who  is  to  prescribe  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  mote  that  is  in  another's  eye ;  for  when  we 
are  in  fault  ourselves,  we  are  the  last  persons  on  earth  who 
5* 


54  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

are  fit  to  pronounce  judgment.  It  needs  a  pure  heart,  as 
well  as  an  unbiassed  mind,  to  enunciate  a  righteous  decision. 
And  then,  speaking  to  the  hypocrite,  the  person  who  wears 
a  mask  —  for  that  is  the  meaning  of  the  word ;  he  says, 
"  First  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thhie  own  eye,  and  then 
shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy 
brother's  eye."  That  is,  first  right  thyself  in  thy  rela- 
tionship to  God,  and  then  thou  wilt  be  able  to  prescribe 
to  thy  brother  what  he  is  to  do.  That  man's  judgment  is 
most  worthy  of  respect,  whose  character  is  most  exempt 
from  censure. 

"  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs,  neither  cast 
ye  your  pearls  before  swine."  That  is,  there  is  a  season  for 
every  thing.  I  have  heard  most  excellent  and  truly  pious 
persons  quote  a  text  in  circumstances  where  silence  would 
have  been  the  richest  exhibition  of  Christian  character;  and 
you  have  heard  others  misquote  and  misapply  Scripture, 
where  they  had  better  not  have  made  the  experiment  at  aU. 
It  is  said,  "  A  word  in  season,  how  good  it  is  !  "  but  even  a 
text  out  of  season,  how  mischievous  it  is,  or  rather  the  use 
of  it  often  proves !  "  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  the 
dogs."  To  speak  of  religion  to  a  drunken  man,  to  speak 
of  the  fear  of  God  to  an  excited  and  an  exasperated  temper, 
are  all  out  of  place.  Wait  for  the  proper  moment,  and 
then  the  word  in  season  uttered  at  that  moment  may  be  pro- 
ductive, not  of  a  revolution,  but  of  a  reformation  that  time 
itself  will  not  exhaust. 

And  then,  what  an  encouragement  to  prayer  have  we 
here !  "  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you  ; "  and,  lest  you 
should  not  understand  that,  "  Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  "  and, 
lest  you  should  not  fully  apprehend  that,  "  Knock,  and  .t 
shall  be  opened  unto  you."  Now,  either  this  is  a  great 
truth,  or  it  is  a  great  deception.  If  it  be  true,  then  if  I 
ask  sincerely,  I  must  obtain ;  if  I  seek  earnestly,  I  must 
find ;  If  I  knock  diligently,  to  me  it  must  be  opened.     If 


MATTHEW    VII.  55 

there  be  truth  in  the  Bible,  it  is  so.  And  what  are  we  to 
ask  ?  you  say.  I  answer,  we  are  not  judges  of  what  is  best 
for  us,  but  we  are  each  of  us  conscious  of  what  we  want. 
Now,  when  a  person  prays,  he  should  just  ask  of  God 
every  thing  that  he  feels  he  needs.  If  such  a  one  should 
answer,  "But  how  do  I  know  that  this  will  be  good  for  me, 
or  that  that  will  not  injure  me  ?  "  I  answer,  that  is  not  your 
province.  It  is  God's  prerogative  to  decide  what  is  good  for 
you  ;  it  is  your  privilege  to  ask  every  thing  that  you  feel  you 
want,  and  to  seek  for  what  you  feel  you  need,  and  to  knock 
until  the  door  is  opened  by  the  hand  of  Him  who  bids  you 
do  so.  Our  privilege  is  to  ask  all  we  think  (it  may  be,  in 
our  ignorance)  that  we  need ;  it  is  God's  gracious  and 
paternal  prerogative  to  withhold  the  things  that  we  ask, 
which  are  not  expedient  for  us,  and  to  bestow  upon  us  the 
things  that  we  need,  often  in  spite  of  our  asking,  and  oftener 
still  whether  we  ask  them  or  ask  them  not. 

For  encouragement,  he  appeals  to  that  which  is  deepest 
in  the  parental  heart,  and  says,  "  If  ye,  in  spite  of  your 
being  evil,  imperfect,  liable  to  gusts  of  passion  and  varieties 
of  feeling,  —  if  ye,  fathers  and  mothers,  being  evil,  know 
how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  '* 
—  reasoning  from  paternal  feeling  upon  earth,  which  is  but 
a  rivulet,  to  the  paternal  feeling  in  heaven,  which  is  the 
ocean  fulness  and  fountain  of  all  —  "how  much  more"  —  it 
is  not  for  us  to  calculate  —  "  will  God  bestow  upon  you  all 
good  things  ?  " 

And  then  he  enunciates  one  of  those  grand  maxims  that, 
like  the  law  of  gravitation,  keeps  every  thing  and  every  one 
in  society  in  its  place,  and  adjusts  the  thing  to  the  place,  and 
the  place  to  the  thing ;  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them."  Now,  where  else 
did  you  ever  read  or  hear  such  a  maxim  as  that  ?  When 
you  are  going  to  treat  a  brother,  an  enemy,  a  friend,  a  foe, 
then  think  of  this,  how  would  you  like  that  he  should  treat 


56  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

you  as  you  mean  to  treat  him  ?  and  then  treat  him,  and  deal 
with  him  just  as  you  would  wish  that  he  in  similar  circum- 
stances, and  under  similar  provocation,  would  deal  with  you. 
Were  this  maxim  carried  into  practical  effect,  I  suspect  at- 
torneys and  barristers  would  have  very  little  to  do ;  in  all 
likelihood,  judges  and  juries  would  be  rarely  summoned,  the 
one  to  the  bench,  and  the  other  to  the  box.  I  should  an- 
ticipate that  society  would  rise  to  a  pitch  of  social,  moral, 
and  national  glory,  that  would  prove  to  all  mankind  how 
truly  the  righteousness  of  God  exalteth  a  people ;  and  it 
would  be  found  that  the  cement,  as  well  as  the  sweetener, 
of  all  society,  is  that  religion  which  begins  in  heaven,  comes 
down  to  earth,  and  culminates  in  heaven  again. 

He  then  exhorts  them  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate :  "  for 
wide  is  the  gate,  and  broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to  de- 
struction, and  many  there  be  which  go  in  thereat."  Why 
do  many  go  in  at  the  wide  gate  ?  Just  because  they  prefer 
it.  Why  do  few  go  in  at  the  strait  gate  ?  Just  because 
they  dislike  to  make  sacrifice.  The  gate  is  not  strait  in 
itself,  but  strait  relatively ;  the  way  is  not  absolutely,  but 
relatively  narrow.  The  straitness  of  the  way  to  heaven  is 
because  we  will  not  consent  to  walk  in  it,  and  to  enter  on  it 
just  as  we  are.  We  want  to  take  something  with  us  —  the 
Pharisee  his  phylactery  ;  the  Sadducee  his  rationalism  ;  the 
Churchman  his  Church  ;  the  Dissenter  his  Dissent ;  and  all 
of  us  our  self-righteousness.  Now  this  way  is  so  constructed, 
that  the  greatest  sinner  who  would  escape  from  his  sins,  and 
obtain  forgiveness,  may  have  easy  entrance  ;  but  the  greatest 
sinner  upon  earth,  who  wants  to  take  any  thing  of  his  own 
with  him,  will  find  it  so  strait,  that  he  cannot  get  admission 
at  all.  And  the  wide  gate  and  the  broad  way  that  lead  to 
destruction  are  so,  because  there  be  many  that  go  in  thereat. 
The  one  is  down,  the  other  is  up  the  stream  ;  the  one  is  in 
accordance  with  the  feelings,  the  tendencies,  and  the  prefer- 
ences of  fallen  humanity  ;  the  other  crosses  them  all.     The 


MATTHEW    VII.  57 

one  is  the  way  of  nature,  in  which  the  fall  has  left  us ;  the 
other  is  the  way  of  grace,  into  which  Christ  alone  can  intro- 
duce us. 

Then  he  bids  them  "  beware  of  false  prophets,  which 
come  in  sheep's  clothing."  They  seem  to  be  sheep,  in- 
offensive beings,  feeding  in  the  green  pastures,  and  wander- 
ing by  the  still  waters ;  but  their  real  spirit  is  that  of 
"  ravening  wolves."  He  is  speaking  of  preachers,  and  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel ;  and  he  says,  "  How  shall  we  know 
them  ?  By  their  fruits."  That  is  a  good  tree  which  has 
good  fruit ;  that  is  a  true  minister  whose  life  and  conduct  are 
what  they  should  be,  and  are  commanded  to  be  in  the  word 
of  God.  We  may  depend  upon  it,  men  do  not  gather 
"  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles.  Even  so  every  good 
tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth 
forth  evil  fruit."  There  may  be  on  the  good  tree  some 
fruits  that  are  faulty,  and  very  often  the  wasp  will  seize  the 
fruit  that  is  sweetest,  and  injure  it  the  most ;  but  the  general 
law  is,  that  the  good  tree  brings  forth  good  fruit,  though 
there  may  be  flaws  and  specks  in  the  best  and  ripest: 
whereas,  the  general  law  is,  that  the  corrupt  tree  brings 
forth  bad  fruit,  and  the  occasional  gleams  of  glory  that  may 
be  on  it  are  only  the  appearance  of  the  apples  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrali,  beautiful  without,  but,  being  the  fruit  of  a  bad 
tree,  they  are  only  dust  within.  Hence,  says  our  blessed 
Lord,  you  are  not  to  judge  of  men  by  what  they  say,  but 
by  what  they  are,  and  by  what  they  do.  It  is  not  the  man 
who  can  say  most  earnestly,  "  Lord,  Lord,"  who  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  it  is  not  the  man  who  can 
make  the  most  beautiful  prayers,  nor  who  can  enunciate  the 
Creed  with  the  greatest  accuracy ;  but  it  is  he  who  not  only 
knows,  but  does ;  whose  conduct  is  his  creed,  whose  char- 
acter is  the  test  of  his  relationship,  and  who  shows  that  he 
belongs  to  Christ  by  having  the  spirit,  wearing  the  livery, 
doing  the  works,  and  walking  in  the  ways  of  Christ. 


58  SCRirXURE   READINGS. 

And  then  lie  announces  this  very  solemn  fact,  that  at  the 
judgment-day  many  will  appear  at  that  tribunal  amazed  at 
the  possibility  of  their  own  rejection,  and  they  will  say, 
"  Lord,  Lord,"  the  language  of  great  earnestness,  "  have  we 
not  prophesied  in  thy  name?"  that  is,  preached  the  Gospel, 
"  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils  ?  and  in  thy  name 
done  many  wonderful  works  ?  "  What  a  striking  testimony 
that  a  man  may  have  faith  so  that  he  can  remove  mountain?; ; 
that  he  may  have  faith  so  that  he  can  cast  out  devils  ;  that 
he  may  have  faith  so  that  he  can  do  many  wonderful  works ; 
and  yet  that  he  may  not  have  the  faith  that  children  have, 
and  that  aged  men  cannot  be  saved  without  —  the  faith  that 
worketh  by  love,  that  purifieth  the  heart,  that  overcometh 
the  world.  And  it  is  not  improbable  that  some  may  come 
in  the  last  days  doing  all  these  things.  But  if -I  were  to 
see  a  man  do  a  miracle,  that  would  not  prove  that  he  was  a 
Christian.  If  a  man  were  to  cast  out  devils,  that  would  not 
prove  that  he  was  a  cMld  of  God.  The  only  thing  that 
shows  whether  a  man  is  a  child  of  God  is  the  character  that 
he  has,  the  life  that  he  lives,  and  the  fruits  of  all  things  that 
are  just,  and  true,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report,  that  he 
bears  and  brings  forth  in  this  present  life. 

And  then,  says  our  blessed  Lord,  "  I  will  profess  unto 
them  I  never  knew  you."  What  a  striking  evidence  of  that 
doctrine,  which  is  branded  as  the  exclusive  doctrine  of  Cal- 
vinism, but  which  is  really  the  peculiar  teaching  of  the 
Gospel,  that  once  a  Christian,  you  can  never  cease  to  be  so ; 
once  born  again,  you  must  grow  to  the  stature  of  the  perfect 
man.  It  is  not  true  that  you  are  a  Christian  to-day,  and 
that  you  may  cease  to  be  a  Christian  to-morrow  ;  for  our 
Lord  does  not  say  to  these  men,  that  he  knew  them  for  a 
little  season,  and  then  cast  them  off,  and  henceforth  rejected 
them  ;  but  that  notAvithstanding  all  their  loud  and  eloquent 
professions,  all  their  plausible  pretences,  all  their  miraculous 
investiture,  all  that  they  did  which  so  looked  like  Christian 


MATTHEW    VII.  59 

character,  he  never  knew  thera,  accepted  them,  or  regarded 
them  as  his  at  all. 

"  Therefore,"  he  says,  "  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings 
of  mine,  and  doeth  them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man, 
which  built  his  house  upon  a  rock."  No  one  doubts  who 
that  rock  is.  "  I  lay  in  Zion  a  foundation  stone."  "  Other 
foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid,  Christ 
Jesus."  "  Ye  are  built  on  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  being  the  chief  corner  and  foundation 
stone."  Built  on  that  stone,  as  our  support,  and  then 
plumbed,  if  I  use  the  proper  expression,  by  that  stone  as 
our  directory,  we  rise  until  grace  is  lost  in  glory.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  those  who  do  not  build  upon  that  stone, 
those  who  do  not  dig  deep  enough  to  find  it,  but  who  build 
upon  the  dust,  the  soil,  or  the  sand,  which  first  presents 
itself,  are  like  the  men  who  build  their  house  upon  the  sand  ; 
the  rains  wash  away  the  sand,  the  floods  more  and  more 
undermine  it;  and  at  last  the  whol-e  house  comes  down,  and 
in  proportion  to  the  height  and  weight  of  the  superstructure 
will  be  the  crash  that  necessarily  follows.  He  is  speaking 
here  of  Christians  built  on  Christ.  Remember  that  it  is 
not  doctrines  that  are  built  on  Christ ;  it  is  living  Christians 
that  are  built  on  him.  "  Ye,  as  living  stones,  are  built  a 
spiritual  house,  and  grow  up  a  holy  priesthood." 

Then  those  who  heard  him  were  struck  with  his  teaching. 
"  He  taught  them  as  one  having  authority."  He  did  not 
say,  "  I  think  it  is  so,"  or,  "  I  hope  it  may  turn  out  to  be 
so,"  or,  "  My  inference,  liable  to  imperfection  and  to  mis- 
calculation, is  so  ; "  but  he  said,  "  Thus  it  is,"  and  "  thus  it 
is  written ; "  and  the  very  authority  with  which  he  spake 
was  one  of  the  credentials  of  the  divinity  of  him  who  spake. 
In  the  present  day,  men  say,  they  leave  the  Protestant 
Church  because  they  want  to  have  and  hear  authority.  I 
answer,  they  need  not  leave  it  for  that  purpose ;  for  in  the 
Protestant  Church  there  is  One  who  speaks  with  authority ; 


60  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

and  if  they  will  open  their  ears  and  their  eyes,  and  listen  to 
him  who  so  speaks  in  the  sanctuary  still,  the  echoes  of  whose 
voice  are  the  sermons  of  his  faithful'ministers,  they  will  not 
need  to  wander  into  a  church  that  indeed  speaks  with 
authority  ;  (no  doubt  of  it ;)  but  then  its  authority  is  not 
from  above,  but  demonstrably  from  below  ;  and  the  very 
dogmatism  with  Avhich  it  enunciates  its  doctrines,  while  it 
may  deceive  by  its  plausibility  the  unwary  and  the  thought- 
less, will  not  be  misconstrued  or  misinterpreted  by  the  chil- 
dren of  God  as  the  authority  of  Him  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake. 


Note.  —  Neither  the  preaching  of  Christ,  nor  doing  miracles  in  his 
name,  are  infallible  signs  of  being  his  genuine  servants,  but  only  the  de- 
votion of  life  to  God's  will  which  this  knowledge  brings  about.  [24.] 
ToiJc  Aoyovg  TovToiig  seems  to  bind  together  the  sermon,  and  preclude, 
as  indeed  does  the  whole  structure  of  the  sermon,  the  supposition  that 
these  last  chapters  are  merely  a  collection  of  sayings  uttered  at  differ- 
ent times.  I'Ofxotcjacj]  Meyer  and  Tholuck  take  this  word  to  signify 
not  "  I  will  compare  him,"  but  "  I  will  make  him  like,"  {ev  eKeivy  Ty 
fj[iipa,)  as  in  ch.  vi.  8  ;  Rom.  ix.  29.  But  it  is  perhaps  more  in  anal- 
ogy with  the  usage  of  the  Lord's  discourses  to  understand  it,  "  I  Avill 
compare  him  : "  so,  6fj.oiuao),  ch.  xi.  16 ;  Luke  xiii.  18,  and  reff.  [25.] 
This  similitude  must  not  be  pressed  to  an  allegorical  and  symbolical 
meaning  in  its  details,  e.g.  so  that  the  rains,  floods,  and  winds  should 
mean  three  distinct  kinds  of  temptation ;  but  the  rock,  as  signifying 
him  who  spake  this,  is  of  too  frequent  use  in  Scripture  for  us  to  over- 
look it  here.  He  founds  his  house  on  a  rock,  who,  hearing  the  words 
of  Christ,  brings  his  heart  and  life  into  accordance  with  his  expressed 
will,  and  is  thus  by  faith  in  union  with  him,  founded  on  him.  "Whereas 
he  who  merely  hears  his  words,  but  does  them  not,  has  never  dug 
down  to  the  rock,  nor  become  united  with  it,  nor  has  any  stability  in 
the  hour  of  trial;  —  t7)v  neTpav  —  r^v  ajinov,  —  the  articles  imj^orting 
that  these  two  were  usually  found  in  the  countiy  where  the  discourse 
was  delivered  ;  ppoxv  —  ol  no  ra/xoc  —  ol  uvefiot,  that  such  trials  of 
the  stability  of  a  house  were  common.  In  the  whole  of  the  simili- 
tude reference  is  probably  made  to  the  prophetic  passage,  Is.  xxix. 
15-18. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

POPULARITY     OF     OUR     LORD's    TKACHIXG  LEPROSY    HEALED A 

soldier's  servant THE  LAST  FESTIA'AL PETER's  MOTHER- 
IN-LAW FOLLOWING  CHRIST  JESUS  ON  SHIPBOARD  DEMO- 
NIACS  THE    DEMON    AND    THE    SAVINE. 

The  whole  chapter  I  have  read  is  a  rich  collection  of 
very  beautiful  miniatures,  each  exhibiting  the  mercy,  power, 
and  compassion  of  our  blessed  Lord. 

It  appears  that  when  Jesus  came  down  from  the  moun- 
tain, from  which  he  had  pronounced  so  many  beautiful 
benedictions,  "  great  multitudes  followed  him."  It  is  a  sin- 
gular fact  that,  whether  the  ministry  of  Jesus  was  blessed 
to  multitudes  or  not,  which  may  be  doubted,  multitudes  did 
follow  him.  He  spake,  it  is  said,  to  the  common  people, 
and,  whoever  went  away,  "  the  common  people  heard  him 
gladly."  These  multitudes  may  have  followed  from  question- 
able motives,  but  they  did  follow;  and,  if  they  followed  from 
wrong  motives,  they  may  have  got,  and  many  of  them  did 
get,  in  their  pursuit,  better,  true,  and  nobler  ones. 

There  came  to  him,  among  the  very  first,  a  leper,  who 
must  have  had  great  confidence  in  his  power,  or  he  would 
not  have  broken  the  cordon-sanitaire,  the  restrictions,  or  the 
limits  that  were  assigned  to  him  by  the  laws  of  his  country. 
This  leper  said  to  him,  "  If  thou  wilt "  —  if  thou  hast  the 
will,  I  know  thou  hast  the  power  to  make  me  clean.  Now, 
leprosy  was  regarded  as  the  affliction  of  God ;  its  cure  was 
regarded  as  the  act  of  God ;  and  such  an  address  to  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  indicated  that  the  leper  had  learned  somewhere 
6 


62  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  He  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  Jesus,  not  afraid 
of  the  contagion  that  was  supposed  to  be  there,  and  still  less 
averse  to  break  the  mere  ceremony  that  restricted  the  leper 
to  a  place,  and  prevented  any  contact  with  him  on  the  part 
of  the  healthy,  "  touched  him,  saying,  I  will "  —  what  a 
proof  of  the  presence  of  a  God  !  —  "be  thou  clean  "  —  what 
evidence  of  the  power  of  God  !  "  And  immediately  his 
leprosy  was  cleansed."  This  cure  is  not  a  dead  fact,  true 
in  the  past ;  but  also  a  foreshadow  of  what  will  be  in  the 
future,  —  an  earnest  and  a  specimen  of  that  universal  heal- 
ing of  which  all  humanity  w^ill  be  the  subject,  when  the 
great  Physician  and  Redeemer  shall  lay  his  tender  hand 
upon  nature's  aching  heart,  and  say,  "  I  will ;  be  thou  holy 
and  happy  for  ever  and  ever." 

When  he  was  healed,  Jesus  said  unto  him,  "  See  thou  tell 
no  man"  —  that  is,  at  this  moment  tell  no  man  of  your 
cure ;  but  go  first  to  the  priest,  who  was  divinely  appointed, 
not  to  heal  the  leprosy,  but  to  pronounce  the  leper  clean,  or 
the  leper  unclean  ;  for  remember  always,  that  the  priest 
did  not  cure,  but  only  decided  from  proofs  whether  the 
victim  was  cured  or  not.  And  this  unveils  to  us  a  very 
important  truth,  that  I  wish  some  who  seem  to  be  ignorant 
of  it  would  learn.  In  the  original  Hebrew  language,  when 
the  treatment  of  the  leper  is  spoken  of,  if  I  were  to  trans- 
late the  words  in  Leviticus  literally,  it  would  be,  "  The  leper 
shall  go  to  the  priest,  and  the  priest  shall  cleanse  him  ; "  or, 
"  The  leper  shall  go  to  the  priest,  and  the  priest  shall  un- 
cleanse  him : "  but  we  know  from  the  ceremony  that  the 
priest  neither  cleansed  nor  uncleansed ;  he  merely  pro- 
nounced clean,  when  he  saw  evidence  of  it.  Here,  there- 
fore, is  the  explanation  of,  and  the  light  in  whicli  we  are  to 
read  these  words,  "  Whose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained  ;  and  whose  soever  sins  ye  forgive,  they  are  for- 
given ; "  that  is,  whose  sins  ye  pronounce  retained,  by  their 
rejecting  the  Saviour,  are  retained ;  and  whose  sins  ye  pro- 


MATTHEW    VIII.  6^ 

nounce  to  be  forgiven,  by  the  party  giving  evidence  of  his 
faith  in  Christ,  these  sins  are  forgiven.  At  the  same  time, 
Jesus  sent  him  to  the  priest  first,  that  his  cure  might  be 
tested,  that  there  might  he  no  misconstruction  or  misrepre- 
sentation of  it,  and  that  by  the  priest's  examination  and 
certificate  it  might  be  seen  that  there  vras  an  actual  cure. 
And  secondly,  he  did  so,  in  order  to  obey  all  righteousness, 
not  wishing  nor  attempting  to  break  the  law  of  the  land  in 
which  he  was,  and  of  which  he  was  then  a  subject. 

Let  us  also  notice  what  is  added,  "  Show  thyself  to  the 
priest,  and  offer  the  gift."  He  assumed  that  if  he  showed 
himself  to  the  priest,  he  would  be  pronounced  clean ;  and 
therefore  he  adds,  in  anticipation,  "  Offer  the  customary 
thank-offering  which  is  due  and  proper  upon  the  occasion." 

When  he  came  to  Capernaum,  there  came  to  him,  not  a 
leper  from  the  hospital,  but  a  soldier  from  his  barracks ; 
and  the  centurion  said,  "  Lord,  my  servant  lieth  at  home 
sick  of  the  palsy,  grievously  tormented."  The  statement  of 
the  malady  was  enough  for  Jesus.  Blessed  thought,  that 
we  need  but  to  tell  him  how  fallen  we  are,  in  order  to  re- 
ceive from  him  the  restoration  that  we  need,  and  that  he 
can  give !  And  how  interesting,  too,  that  this  soldier 
brought  not  himself,  but  his  servant.  Well,  if  a  soldier 
n^ht  bring  his  sick  orderly  to  Jesus,  a  parent  may  surely 
bring  his  sick  child,  a  brother  his  sick  brother,  a  sister 
her  sick  sister:  and  He  who  listened  to  a  master's  interces- 
sion for  a  servant's  cure  will  not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  such 
petitions  as  these.  Jesus  said  to  him  at  once,  "  I  will  come 
and  heal  him."  The  soldier  was  so  struck  with  this,  that  he 
said,  "  This  is  more  than  I  expected,  I  never  dreamed  of 
such  a  thing,  I  am  not  worthy,  I  am  a  poor  simple  Gentile, 
I  am  not  a  Jew,  —  I  am  not  worthy  that  thou  shouldest 
come  under  my  roof;  but  I  am  quite  certain  of  this,  that  if 
thou  wouldest  only  speak  the  word,  then  my  servant  will  be 
healed : "  and  he  gave  an  illustration  of  this,  and  the  illus" 


64  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

tration  was  perfectly  beautiful,  "  For  I  am  a  man  under  au- 
thority ;  I  am  not  the  commander-in-chief,  but  colonel,  or 
major,  or  lieutenant.  I  have  soldiers  under  me,  and  by  the 
law  and  usage  of  military  discipline,  I  say  to  one  man.  Go, 
and  he  goeth ;  and  to  another  man.  Come,  and  he  cometh ; 
and  to  my  servant,  Do  this,  and  he  doeth  it.  Well,  then,  if 
my  soldiers  thus  readily  obey  me  who  am  their  superior,  I 
know  that  wind  and  wave,  and  all  the  elements  of  nature, 
will  obey  thee,  who  art  the  Commander-in-chief  of  all  the 
hosts  of  heaven  and  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth; 
and  therefore,"  he  argued,  "  if  thou,  blessed  Master,  wilt 
only  say  the  w^ord,  the  very  winds  will  hear  that  word,  and 
that  word,  descending  into  my  servant's  heart,  will  instantly 
operate  as  a  perfect  cure." 

Now,  when  Jesus  heard  this,  he  marvelled  —  expressed 
his  wonder,  for  he  knew  what  was  in  the  heart ;  and  he 
said,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  have  not  found  so  great 
faith,  no,  not  in  Israel."  —  "I  have  not  found  such  Chris- 
tianity as  this,"  as  if  he  had  said,  "  in  the  church  of  Christ ; 
I  find  in  this  Gentile  a  simplicity  of  faith  that  I  have  not 
found  under  the  phylactery  of  the  Pharisee,  or  in  the  heart 
and  conduct  of  the  loudest  professor  that  I  have  met  with." 
And  he  adds  a  very  striking  thought,  "  That  many  shall 
come  from  the  east  and  west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abra- 
ham, and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  :  bi5t 
the  children  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast  out;"  that  is, 
many  a  Gentile  shall  be  found  in  heaven,  who  was  thought 
by  us  to  be  an  alien,  while  many  a  loud  professor  will  be 
missing  there,  who  was  pronoimced  infallibly  by  popes,  and 
synods,  and  assemblies,  and  bishops,  to  be  a  true  Christian. 
Many  will  be  there  we  never  expected  to  meet,  and  some  at 
least  will  be  missing  we  made  certain  of  finding  there.  It 
is  not  sect,  it  is  not  system,  it  is  not  latitude  or  longitude, 
that  are  the  limits  of  Cliristianity.  God  has  his  own  hidden 
ones,  where  the  world  least  suspects  them.    "And  Jesus  said 


MATTHEW   Vlir.  ^  65 

unto  the  centurion,  Go  thy  way ;  and  as  thou  hast  believed, 
so  be  it  unto  thee.  And  his  servant  was  healed  in  the  self- 
same hour." 

Afterwards  we  have  a  third  picture,  in  itself  a  perfect 
gem.  Jesus  came  to  Peter's  house,  and  saw  there  what 
would  have  surprised  a  Roman  Catholic,  if  such  had  been 
in  those  days,  "  Peter's  Avife's  mother ; "  and  if  Peter  had 
been  living  in  modern  days,  he  must  have  presented  a  rela- 
tion who  would  have  made  him  instantly  be  cast  out  as  a 
breaker  of  the  law  and  covenant  of  the  church ;  for  Peter, 
it  appears  from  this,  was  a  married  man,  — "  his  wife's 
mother."  And,  therefore,  a  bishop  may  be  the  husband  of 
one  wife ;  marriage  may  be  and  is  honorable  in  all  men, 
minister  or  layman;  and  certainly,  if  the  first  pope,  so 
assumed  to  be,  was  married,  the  last  pope  need  not  hesitate 
to  imitate  his  example.  If  this  was  apostolic  practice, 
there  seems  to  be  a  loss  of  apostolic  succession  in  the  want 
of  that  practice  on  the  part  of  the  modern  church  of  Rome. 
When  our  Lord  came,  and  saw  Peter's  wife's  mother  sick 
of  a  fever,  "  he  touched  her  hand,  and  the  fever  left  her." 
We  found  Him,  in  the  first  place,  at  the  hospital,  next  at 
the  barracks,  and  now  we  find  him  beneath  the  roof-tree, 
and  by  the  domestic  fireside ;  and  there  he  heals  the  sick, 
and  gives  comfort  and  joy  ;  and  tlius  "  he  cast  out  the  spirits 
with  his  word:  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  Avhich  was  spoken 
by  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying,  Himself  took  our  infirmi- 
ties," —  that  is,  deeply  sympathizes  with  them.  The  deepest 
and  the  least  sorrow  in  the  human  heart  had  its  echo  in  the 
heart  of  Jesus.     And  he  is  now  what  he  was  then. 

A  certain  scribe,  struck  with  what  he  had  seen,  in  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  moment  said,  "  I  will  follow  thee  whither- 
soever thou  goest."  Jesus  said,  "  It  is  well ;  but  recollect, 
for  it  is  right  that  you  should  know  what  you  are  to  em- 
brace, it  is  right  that  you  should  not  begin  to  build  till  you 
have  counted  the  cost ;  the  foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds 
6* 


66  *  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

of  the  air  have  nests ;  but  the  Son  of  man  liath  not  where 
to  lay  his  head."  We  hear  no  more  of  this  enthusiastic 
professor ;  and,  perhaps,  many  a  one  still  would  reject  the 
Gospel,  if  it  were  the  loss  of  lands,  and  houses,  and  all  that 
he  has ;  and  those  who  follow  Christ  would  perhaps  be 
fewer,  if  this  were  now,  as  it  has  been,  the  penalty,  although 
it  is  still  what  we  should  feel  the  principle  of  adhesion  to 
him,  while  the  penalty  is  not  now  always  inflicted. 

Again,  another  said  to  him,  "  Lord,  suffer  me  first  to  go 
and  bury  my  father."  That  exception  proved  he  was  not 
thoroughly  in  earnest ;  and  Jesus  said,  speaking  in  a  prov- 
erb, perhaps  popular  at  that  time,  "  Follow  me ;  and  let 
the  dead  bury  their  dead."  Do  not  let  any  thing  upon 
earth  stand  between  you  and  instant  duty.  Duty  first,  and 
reverence  and  respect  to  the  obsequies  of  a  dead  parent 
next. 

After  this  we  are  told,  "he  entered  into  a  ship."  We 
find  him  now  no  longer  by  the  hospital,  no  longer  in  the 
army,  no  more  at  the  fireside,  but  on  the  bosom  of  the 
sea  —  in  a  ship  on  the  sea  of  Galilee,  or  Gennesaret,  and 
"the  ship  was  covered  with  the  waves."  There  was  a 
great  storm.  Christ's  presence  did  not  prevent  it.  "  He 
was  asleep.  And  his  disciples  came  to  him,  and  awoke 
him,  saying.  Lord,  save  us :  we  perish.  And  he  saith  unto 
them,  Why  are  ye  fearful,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ?  Then  he 
arose,  and  rebuked  the  winds  and  the  sea ;  and  there  was  a 
great  calm."  We  find  Christ  here  not  only  the  Healer  of 
disease,  but  the  Stiller  of  the  storm.  "  What  manner  of 
man  is  this,"  they  might  well  exclaim,  "  that  even  the  winds 
and  the  sea  obey  him !  "  There  are  worse  winds  that  blow 
now ;  there  are  stormier  seas  that  rage  still :  these  fierce 
winds  are  human  passions ;  these  stormy  waves  are  human 
appetites  :  he  can  still  them  too,  and  enable  those  who  have 
felt  the  storm  to  say,  "  What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that 
ihe  win4p  of  prejudice  and  the  waves  of  passion  so  readily 


MATTHEW  Tin.  67 

obey  him  ! "  This  incident,  I  observe,  is  an  earnest  of  what 
will  be.  Disease  is  not  the  normal  state  of  man,  but,  if  I  may 
use  the  word,  the  abnormal  state.  We  think  it  is  natural 
to  have  headaches  and  heart-aches,  and  infirmities,  and  grey 
hairs,  and  sorrows ;  but  all  these  things  are  most  unnatural. 
God  never  made  them,  God  does  not  send  them  ;  sin  intro- 
duced them  ;  but  God  reigns,  and  restrains  and  regulates 
them  for  his  own  purposes  and  the  good  of  his  own.  But  it 
is  a  very  sad  evidence  of  our  mistake,  as  well  as  of  our  fall, 
that  persons  always  see  God's  hand  in  any  harm  that  befalls 
them,  but  so  rarely  do  they  see  God's  hand  in  blessings  that 
lighten  on  them ;  and  yet  the  blessing  bears  more  distinctly 
the  signature  of  God  than  does  the  calamity  ;  and  praise  is 
more  natural,  if  man  were  in  his  natural  state,  than  prayer 
under  suffering  or  affliction.  A  day  comes  when  Christ 
will  remove  all  disease,  when  he  will  lay  storm  and  wind, 
and  when  the  21st  and  2 2d  chapters  of  the  book  of  Reve- 
lation will  no  longer  be  prophecy,  but  actual  fact. 

We  next  read  of  some  that  were  "  possessed  with  devils, 
coming  out  of  the  tombs,  exceeding  fierce."  They  said, 
"  What  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  God  ?  " 
—  they  saw  him,  and  recognized  him  —  "art  thou  come 
hither  to  torment  us  before  the  time  ?  "  What  an  expression 
is  that !  These  demons,  or  fiends,  part  of  Satan's  followers 
and  legions,  saw  in  Christ  their  Judge,  and  they  anticipated 
as  a  certainty  their  final  punishment ;  but  they  wished  that 
certainty  to  be  put  off  as  long  as  possible.  Now,  I  believe 
that  this  was  not  disease.  It  was  not  palsy,  it  was  not  fall- 
ing sickness,  it  was  not  any  of  the  nervous  or  physical  mala- 
dies incident  to  humanity  now  ;  but  it  was  actual  demoniac 
possession.  And,  I  believe,  you  will  find  in  the  whole  his- 
tory of  God's  providential  revelation,  that  whatever  God 
did,  Satan  always  got  up  an  imitation  of  it,  in  order  to  Iraw 
man  off  from  giving  attention  to  what  God  was  doing.  Did 
God  work  miracles  in  Egypt  ?     Satan  did  the  same.     Did 


68  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

God  raise  up  prophets  ?  Satan  did  the  same.  Did  God 
come  in  the  flesh  ?  Satan  was  also  manifest  in  the  flesh ; 
and  his  spirits,  as  his  servants,  took  literal  possession  of  the 
human  body.  But  I  do  not  believe  that  demoniac  possession 
exists  now  either  as  it  was  then,  or  indeed  that  it  exists  at 
all.  That  Satan  and  his  servants  do  come  in  contact  with 
the  soul  is  quite  certain ;  but  that  Satan  and  his  servants 
take  demoniac  possession  of  the  body,  I  think,  is  not  true  ; 
because  when  Christ  became  incarnate,  and  died,  and  rose 
again,  a  new  economy  began  —  not  the  economy  of  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh,  but  the  economy  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
given  at  Pentecost.  Satan's  mimicry  now  is  to  get  up  a 
counter  system,  the  exact  counterpart  and  correlative  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ ;  his  chief  mimicry  is  the  great  apostasy, 
Romanism.  It  is  his  last  and  most  desperate  effort ;  and 
we  are  thankful  that  it  will  be  the  last,  that  his  all  is  staked 
on  it,  and  that  all  his  schemes  will  be  consumed  by  the 
spirit  of  Christ's  mouth,  and  destroyed  by  the  brightness  of 
his  coming. 

The  devils  asked  as  a  respite,  that  they  might  go  into  a 
herd  of  swine ;  and  Jesus  said,  "  Go."  But  this  does  not 
mean  that  he  approved  of  it ;  all  it  implies  is,  that  he  per- 
mitted it.  God  often  and  everywhere  permits  in  this 
world  what  he  does  not  applaud  ;  and  the  fact  that  he  per- 
mitted these  devils  to  go  into  a  herd  of  swine  is  not  evidence 
that  he  approved  of  it ;  it  is  license,  and  nothing  more.  But 
there  may  have  been  a  reason  for  it  in  the  following  fact. 
These  swine  were  not  ostensibly  kept  by  the  Jews,  who 
were  too  strict  in  the  outward  observance  of  their  cere- 
monial law  to  do  it ;  and  yet,  too  greedy  not  to  desire  the 
profits  therefrom,  they  thought  that  they  got  rid  of  the  sin 
which  they  would  have  committed  in  directly  keeping  swine, 
by  getting  Gergesenes  to  keep  the  swine  for  them,  and  thus 
to  commit  the  sin  for  them,  and  save  their  consciences,  as  if 
sin  might  be  done  by  proxy.  I  have  heard  that  many  modern 


MATTHEW   VIII.  69 

Jews,  who  cannot  keep  the  ceremonial  law  in  consistency 
with  their  own  worldly  interests,  will  get  Gentiles  to  break 
it  for  them  ;  and  they  think  that  thus  they  get  rid  of  the  sin 
incurred  by  the  violation  of  solemn  obligations.  The  Jews 
in  those  days  thought  so;  and  these  Gergesenes  kept  the 
swine  in  obedience  to  Jewish  masters,  who  were  the  real 
proprietors,  because  the  only  gainers;  and,  of  course,  the 
Jewish  masters  were  far  more  guilty  than  the  heathens 
who  did  this  work  for  them.  Well,  when  Jesus  allowed  the 
swine  to  go  into  the  sea,  there  was  a  just  punishment  in- 
flicted upon  those  avaricious  Jews,  who  broke  their  law  by 
making  others  do  for  them  what  they  themselves  would  not 
be  seen  to  do,  and  thought  that  thus  they  escaped  the  sin. 
This  is  an  old  human  principle,  which  is  carried  out  in  mod- 
ern times  in  the  Romish  church,  where  a  person  may  do 
penance  for  others,  —  that  is,  a  sinner  repent  by  proxy; 
and,  in  short,  a  criminal  may  hire  a  substitute  so  far  to  bear 
his  punishment,  and  thus  think  that  he  gets  rid  of  the  conse- 
quences of  his  sin.  Thus  these  Jews  thought  that  by  get- 
ting the  Gergesenes  to  do  this  work,  they  got  rid  of  the 
guilt  of  it. 

These  Gergesenes,  who  lost  their  property,  and  probably 
their  Jewish  masters  too,  begged  Jesus  to  leave  them. 
What  an  awful  request!  When  he  healed  their  diseases 
they  begged  him  to  remain  ;  but  when  he  deprived  them  of 
their  property,  they  begged  him  to  depart.  It  was  not  the 
salvation  of  their  dear  souls  they  sought,  or  Jesus  that  they 
loved.     This  earth  was  their  all. 


Note,  — This  is  a  vei-sion  of  the  prophecj  differing  from  the  LXX, 
which  has  OvTog  raf  d[j.apTiag  TjficJv  fepei  Kairrep  i^ficJv  ddvvuTat.  The 
exact  sense  in  which  these  words  are  quoted  is  a  matter  of  difficulty. 
Some  understand  DMjde  and  IjSuGraaev  as  merely  "  took  away "  and 


70  SCRirTURE   READINGS. 

"  healed ;  "  but  besides  this  being  a  very  harsh  interpretation  of  both 
words,  it  entirely  destroys  the  force  of  avrbg,  and  makes  it  expletive. 
Others  suppose  it  to  refer  to  the  personal  fatigue,  (or  even  the  spiritual 
exhaustion,  [Olshausen,]  which,  however,  is  inconsistent  with  sound 
doctrine,)  which  our  Lord  felt  by  these  cures  being  long  protracted 
into  the  evening.  But  I  believe  the  true  relevancy  of  the  prophecy  is 
to  be  sought  by  regarding  the  miracles  generally  to  have  been,  as  we 
know  so  many  of  them  Avere,  lesser,  or  typical  outshowings  of  the 
great  work  of  bearing  the  sin  of  the  world  which  he  came  to  accom- 
plish;  just  as  diseases  themselves,  on  which  those  miracles  operated, 
are  all  so  many  testimonies  to  the  existence,  and  types  of  the  effect  of 
sin.  Moreover,  in  these  his  deeds  of  mci-cy,  he  was  touched  with  the 
feelings  of  our  infirmities ;  witness  his  tears  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus, 
and  his  sighing  over  the  deaf  and  dumb  man,  Mark  vii.  34.  The 
very  act  of  compassion  is  a  suffering  with  (as  the  name  imports)  its 
object :  and  if  this  be  tme  between  man  and  man,  how  much  more 
strictly  so  in  His  case  who  had  taken  upon  him  the  wliole  burden  of 
the  sin  of  the  world,  with  all  its  sad  train  of  sorrow  and  suffering ! 

(2.)  The  destruction  of  the  sAvine  is  not  for  a  moment  to  bethought 
of  in  the  matter,  as  if  that  were  an  act  repugnant  to  the  merciful 
character  of  our  Lord's  miracles.  It  finds  its  parallel  in  the  cursing 
of  the  fig-tree,  (xxi.  17-22,)  and  we  may  well  think  that  if  God  has 
appointed  so  many  animals  to  be  daily  slaughtered  for  the  sustenance 
of  men's  bodies,  he  may  also  be  pleased  to  destroy  animal  life  Avhen 
he  sees  fit,  for  the  liberation  or  instruction  of  their  souls.  Besides, 
if  the  confessedly  far  greater  evil  of  the  possession  of  men  by  evil 
spirits,  and  all  the  misery  thereupon  attendant,  was  permitted  in 
God's  inscrutable  purposes,  surely  much  more  this  lesser  one.  Whether 
there  may  have  been  special  reasons  in  this  case,  such  as  the  contempt 
of  the  Mosaic  law  by  the  keepers  of  the  swine,  Ave  have  no  means  of 
judging;  but  it  is  at  least  possible.  — Alford. 


CHAPTEK    IX. 

THE     CITY    OF    JESUS  —  THE     PALSIED  —  THE     SIN     FORGIVER,   AND 

THE     HEALER     OP     DISEASE POPULARITY — CALL     OF     LEVI 

THE  FRIEND  OF  PUBLICANS  AND  SINNERS  —  FASTING — WINE 
AND  TEETOTALISM  —  THE  MAID  RESTORED  —  DEMONIACS  —  THE 
HARVEST    AND    REAPERS. 

I  NOTICED  in  my  remarks  on  the  previous  chapter,  last 
Sabbath  evening,  that  it  seemed  a  collection  of  beautiful 
portraits,  each  of  which  revealed  at  once  the  glory  of  our 
blessed  Master,  and  also  the  greatness  of  the  mercies  that 
were  experienced  from  him  by  all  those  who  were  sick,  dis- 
eased, needy,  and  destitute.  This  chapter  is  a  similar, 
almost  continuous  one.  It  contains  a  series  of  similar 
blessings  bestowed  upon  the  needy,  the  sick,  and  the  per- 
ishing; and  both  together  show  forth  the  glory  and  the 
greatness  of  Him  who  came,  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but 
sinners,  to  repentance. 

"His  own  city"  was  Capernaum,  a  city  signalized  by  its 
guilt,  and  also  from  his  frequent  visits,  by  the  privileges 
and  the  mercies  that  it  received,  —  a  city,  therefore,  truly 
responsible. 

The  persons  in  that  city  "  brought  to  him  a  man  sick  of 
the  palsy."  Surely,  it  is  right  that  they  who  appreciate  the 
excellence  and  the  ability  of  the  Saviour  should  bring  those 
who  need  his  mercies  to  him  ;  if  not  personally,  as  these 
did,  at  least  spiritually  and  in  faith,  as  Christians  do  still  in 
prayer.     In  either  case  it  is  really  done.     Jesus  recognizes 


72  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  sympathy  that  a  relative  feels  in  the  well-being  of  a 
relative,  for  it  is  said,  "  Seeing  their  faith  "  —  the  faith  of 
the  carriers  who  brought  the  sick  man  to  him  —  "he  said, 
Son,  be  of  good  cheer ;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee."  First, 
he  recognized  him  as  a  son,  giving  him  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion ;  and  next,  he  pronounced  over  him  an  absolution, 
which  man  cannot  bestow,  and  which  man  cannot  take 
away  —  "  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee."  Perhaps  the  words 
here  are  not  so  exactly  translated  as  they  should  be.  It  is 
not  a  prayer,  "  May  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee ; "  but  it  is  a 
declaration,  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee."  It  was  not  preca- 
tory, but  judicial. 

After  these  words  "  certain  of  the  scribes  said  within 
themselves.  This  man  blasphemeth."  If  he  were  a  man 
only  —  if  he  were  a  priest  only,  most  certainly  their  judg- 
ment of  him  would  have  been  true ;  for  of  all  blasphemies, 
the  greatest  is  to  assume  the  prerogative  of  Jesus,  and  pre- 
tend to  do  what  he  only  can  do  —  pardon  and  absolve  them 
that  believe.  Jesus  saw  their  thoughts,  and  said,  "  Where- 
fore think  ye  evil  in  your  hearts?"  and  then  he  put  the 
question  to  them,  "  Whether  is  it  easier  —  not  absolutely, 
but  according  to  your  judgment  —  which  would  you  think 
easier,  to  say,  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee ;  or  to  say,  Arise, 
and  walk  ?  I  have  done  the  one ;  and,  if  you  think  the 
other  is  much  more  difficult,  I  will  do  that  too.  "  But  that 
ye  may  know  that  the  Son  of  man  hath  power  on  earth  to 
forgive  sins,  which  you  think  the  least,  I  will  also  heal  this 
man;"  and  he  said,  "Arise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  go  unto 
thine  house."  The  healing  of  the  sick  was  the  visible  tide 
that  ebbed  and  flowed  before  men's  eyes ;  the  forgiveness  of 
sins  was  the  undercurrent  that  they  could  not  see,  but 
which  was  indicated  there,  and  was  equally  beneficent  and 
real.  He  appealed  to  them  by  what  they  could  appreciate, 
and  led  them  thereby  to  infer  what  they  did  not  see,  and  to 
believe  that  He  who  had  power  to  give  vigor  to  the  pal- 


MATTHEW   IX.  73 

sied  limb,  had  power  to  pronounce  absolution  upon  the 
guilty  soul. 

"  When  the  multitudes  saw  it,  they  marvelled."  How 
strange  that,  in  all  the  past  experience  of  the  church,  the 
priest,  the  presbyter,  the  bishop,  and  the  scribe  have  gen- 
erally been  the  first  to  obstruct  the  progress  of  real  relig- 
ion ;  and  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  even  when 
least  enlightened,  have  been  forward  to  recognize  the  finger, 
and  to  give  glory  to  the  name  of  God.  It  is  a  most  strange 
fact,  that  will  come  out  more  and  more  as  we  read  the  Gos- 
pels, that  the  priest  has  oftenest  been  the  great  obstruction 
to  religion,  —  that  the  people  have  ever  been  ready  to 
accept,  revere,  and  own  it.  Rather  would  I  the  domination 
of  the  sovereign,  or  the  domination  of  the  people,  than  risk 
or  encounter  the  more  terrible  domination  of  the  priest,  the 
presbyter,  the  synod,  or  the  bishop,  in  any  of  the  formulas 
in  which  they  usually  present  themselves. 

"As  Jesus  passed  forth  from  thence,  he  saw  a  man,  named 
Matthew,  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom :  and  he  saith 
unto  him.  Follow  me.  And  he  arose,  and  followed  him." 
We  have  recorded  here  the  call  of  Matthew,  the  writer  of 
this  Gospel ;  and  in  this  incident,  as  here  recorded,  we  have 
a  beautiful  trait,  which  perhaps  gives  the  opportunity  of 
explaining  why  one  Evangelist  omits  sometimes  that  which 
another  Evangelist  records.  In  another  Gospjgl  it  is  said, 
"  Jesus  said  to  Matthew,  "  Follow  me ; "  and  it  is  added, 
'•'•He  left  all^  and  followed  Jesus."  Now,  as  Matthew  is  the 
historian  of  the  fact,  in  this  Gospel,  he  omits  in  his  account 
what  would  have  been  construed  as  egotism  or  self-glorifica- 
tion. He  faithfully  states  the  fact,  but  modestly  omits  the 
sacrifice.  And  if  we  find  that  one  Gospel  states  a  fact 
which  another  omits,  we  may  depend  upon  it  there  is  a 
reason  for  it  whether  we  see  it  or  not.  In  this  instance,  we 
can  see  the  reason.  Matthew  wished  not  to  be  laid  open  to 
the  charge  of  egotism,  pride,  or  self-glory ;  and  thus,  in  this 
7 


74  SCRirXURE    READINGS. 

case,  we  can  easily  understand  why  he  omitted  what  another 
Evangelist  records.  And  in  oilier  such  cases,  where  we 
cannot  see  the  reason,  Ave  may  depend  upon  it,  it  is  not 
from  want  of  a  reason,  but  because  of  our  blindness  and 
ignorance,  that  we  are  not  yet  able  to  understand  it.  But 
if  we  know  not  now,  let  us  patiently  wait  and  devoutly 
pray,  and  we  shall  know  hereafter. 

Then,  "  It  came  to  pass,  as  Jesus  sat  at  meat  in  the  house, 
behold,  many  publicans  and  sinners  came  and  sat  down 
with  him  and  his  disciples.  And  when  the  Pharisees  saw 
it,  they  said  unto  his  disciples.  Why  eatetli  your  Master 
with  publicans  and  sinners  ?  But  when  Jesus  heard  that, 
he  said  unto  them.  They  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician 
but  they  that  are  sick."  Because  Christ  dined  with  publi- 
cans and  sinners,  that  is  not  a  precedent  for  you  and  me  to 
go,  in  every  instance,  and  promiscuously  do  so  likewise.  If 
you  go  to  them  as  Jesus  went  to  them  —  a  physician  to  the 
sick,  an  instructor  to  the  ignorant,  go.  He  went  into  their 
company,  not  as  their  boon  companion,  to  enjoy  their  fes- 
tivities, but  as  the  Great  Physician,  to  enlighten  their  igno- 
rance and  to  heal  their  sicknesses.  And  when  some  com- 
plained that  he  thus  kept  company  with  those  in  whose 
company,  they  said,  he  should  not  be  found,  he  could  answer 
in  an  aphorism  that  reveals  the  glory  of  his  beautiful  and 
blessed  character,  "they  who  think  themselves  whole,  as 
you  Scribes  and  Pharisees  falsely  think  yourselves  to  be,  of 
course  need  not  a  physician  ;  and,  therefore,  you  will  excuse 
me  if  I  go  not  to  you.  But  these  poor  publicans  and  sinners 
feel  that  they  are  sick,  sinful,  and  dying, — they  want  me, 
and  surely  you  will  justify  me  in  going  as  a  physician  to 
them." 

He  then  adds  also,  what  ought  to  have  rebuked  them, 
"You  forget  your  own  Bible.  You  believe  in  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures.  Recollect  what  Hosea  says,  '  I  will 
have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice.' "    That  is,  the  external  cere- 


MATTHEW    IX.  75 

mony  must  give  way  to  the  internal  truth.  Better  violate 
the  Sabbath-day  in  its  letter,  by  relieving  the  sick,  healing 
the  dying,  giving  to  the  destitute  and  the  perishing,  than 
observe  it  rigidly  in  the  letter,  and  violate  and  infringe  the 
lessons  of  beneficence  and  goodness. 

"  Then  came  to  him  the  disciples  of  John,  saying,  Why  do 
we  and  the  Pharisees  fast  oft,  but  thy  disciples  fast  not  ?  " 
That  is,  put  into  modern  language,  "  Why  are  we  church- 
men, and  you  dissenters  ? "  Why  are  we  dissenters,  and 
you  churchmen  ?  Why  do  we  worship  with  a  liturgy,  and 
you  do  not  ?  Why  do  we  worship  without  a  liturgy,  and 
you  with  one  ?  "  It  is  one  of  those  questions  that  are  always 
rising  in  diiferent  formulas,  but  all  springing  from  the  same 
sectarian  prejudice,  which  believes  that  the  least  that  we  do 
is  infallibly  right,  and  that  all  that  a  brother  does  is  infaUibly 
wrong.  Now,  the  answer. of  our  blessed  Lord  was,  "  Can 
the  children  of  the  bi-idechamber  mourn,  as  long  as  the 
bridegroom  is  with  them  ?  "  —  it  is  the  season  of  festivity  — 
"  but  the  days  will  come,  when  the  bridegroom  shall  be 
taken  from  them,  and  then  shall  they  fast."  Now,  he  shows 
that  mourning  and  fasting  are  here  perfectly  synonymous, 
and  so  we  fast  when  we  mourn  ;  and,  moreover,  he  shows 
that  there  is  a  seasonableness  in  every  thing,  and  that  every 
thing  is  beautiful  in  its  season.  There  is  a  time  to  fast,  and 
there  is  a  time  not  to  fast ;  there  is  a  time  to  mourn,  and 
there  is  a  time  to  rejoice  ;  and  every  one's  own  heart,  and 
conscience,  and  experience  must  be  the  best  judge  when 
that  time  is.  If  you  feel  that  fasting  will  do  you  spiritually 
good,  pray  fast.  If  I  find  that  lasting  would  do  me  no  good, 
it  is  surely  preferable  not  to  fast ;  but  it  seems  the  better 
prescription  neither  to  fast,  nor  to  feast,  but  to  live  soberly, 
and  righteously^  and  godly,  and  ever  to  remember,  in  all 
outside  questions,  "  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  neither 
meat  nor  drink,"  neither  feasting  nor  fasting,  "  but  righteous- 
ness, peace,  and  joy,  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 


76  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

He  next  illustrates  the  seasonableness  of  every  thing,  by 
saying,  "  No  man  putteth  a  piece  of  new  cloth  unto  an  old 
garment."  That  is,  if  the  garment  be  worn  thin  by  long 
usage,  and  if  you  sew  a  piece  of  strong  cloth  upon  it,  it  will 
rend  oif  the  piece  of  the  old  garment  that  has  become  thin ; 
and  thus,  instead  of  repairing  the  injury,  you  will  only  make 
it  worse.  Again,  "  neither  do  men  put  new  wine  into  old 
bottles."  This  is  unmeaning  according  to  our  usage  ;  because 
if  new  wine  were  put  into  an  old  glass  bottle,  it  might  be 
benefited,  and  certainly  the  bottle  would  run  no  risk  of 
being  broken,  nor  be  made  worse.  It  is  necessary,  here,  to 
recollect  that  in  Eastern  countries  the  bottles  used  were 
skins  of  sheep,  and  sometimes  the  skins  of  oxen  ;  and  these 
were  thrown  across  a  horse's  back,  and  conveyed  from  place 
to  place.  You  will  observe,  too,  that  this  text  confutes  the 
statement  of  those  who  say  that  the  wine  in  Scripture  was 
unfermented.  That  there  was  unfermented  wine  in  ancient 
times  is  certain,  for  the  chief  butler  squeezed  the  grapes 
into  Pharaoh's  cup.  That  was  unfermented  ;  and,  perhaps, 
there  is  less  likelihood  that  persons  will  do  themselves  harm 
with  this  wine  than  with  the  other ;  but  certainly  there  is 
proof  here  that  fermented  wine  was  used  :  for  why  would 
new  wine  do  injury  to  old  skins  ?  The  reason  is  this,  that 
all  vegetable  extracts  and  juices,  by  a  process  of  chemical 
decomposition,  evolve  in  that  process  what  is  called  carbonic 
acid  gas  as  they  undergo  vinous  fermentation,  the  same  gas 
that  is  found  in  soda-water.  Well,  then,  if  this  wine  were 
allowed  to  ferment  in  old  skins  that  had  been  already  ex- 
panded to  the  utmost  by  the  wine  that  had  previously  been 
in  them,  the  fotce  of  the  new  fermentation,  by  the  creation 
of  carbonic  acid  gas,  would  burst  the  skin  now  incapable  of 
expansion,  and  both  wine  and  bottle  would  be  lost.  So  our 
Lord  says,  that  just  as  it  would  be  absurd  to  apply  a  piece 
of  new  cloth  to  an  old  garment,  or  to  put  new  wine  in  old 
skins,  so  it  is  inappropriate  to  do  things  now  which  Avould 


MATTHEW    IX.  77 

be  appropriate  on  another  occasion  and  in  other  circum- 
stances. I  may  just  notice  here  the  simple  fact,  that  how- 
ever beneficial  the  practice  of  what  is  called  abstinence 
from  alcoholic  drinks  may  be  when  in  health,  and  I  think  it 
is,  on  the  whole,  a  good  thing,  and  I  should  rejoice  if  there 
were  thousands  of  lecturers  moving  throughout  the  country, 
who  would  just  demonstrate  to  mankind  that  the  use  of 
alcoholic  liquors  may  do  harm,  and  can  in  health  do  no 
good  ;  but  when  this  is  carried  out  of  the  province  of  ex- 
pediency or  health,  and  brought  into  the  region  of  Scripture, 
and  it  is  attempted  to  prove  that  wine  in  Scripture  was  not 
alcoholic,  then  it  is  doing  injury  to  a  good  cause,  and  using 
a  very  lame  argument  to  support  a  principle  which,  intelli- 
gently practised,  may  confer  great  benefits  upon  society.  A 
bishop,  it  is  said,  must  not  be  given  to  much  wine.  Why 
limit  the  quantity?  Because  there  was  danger  in  excess. 
"  Be  not  filled  with  wine."  Why  limit  the  quantity  ?  Be- 
cause there  was  danger  in  excess.  A  person  cannot  drink 
too  much  water.  It  is  not  said  that  a  bishop  must  not  be 
given  to  much  water.  Why  ?  Because  all  the  water  he 
could  drink  could  do  him  no  harm.  Therefore,  I  infer  that 
the  wine  alluded  to  was  intoxicating  wine  ;  and  I  also  infer 
that  the  moderate  use  of  it,  without  determining  whether  it 
be  healthy  or  not,  expedient  or  otherwise,  is  not  interdicted 
or  forbidden  in  the  word  of  God. 

We  read  of  another  incident  —  "  While  he  spake  these 
things  unto  them,  behold,  there  came  a  certain  ruler,  and 
worshipped  him,  saying,  my  daughter  is  even  now  dead : 
but  come  and  lay  thy  hand  upon  her,  and  she  shall  live." 
What  faith  !  We  read  that  this  was  fulfilled,  where  he 
said,  "  Give  place  :  for  the  maid  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth." 
Probably  he  meant  the  sleep  of  death  ;  but  whether  the  one 
or  the  other,  he  raised  her  up  ;  and  she  was  well. 

Another  person  came  to  him,  and  in  the  exercise  of  the 
most  childlike  faith  said,  "  If  I  may  but  touch  his  garment, 


78  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

I  shall  be  whole."  Jesus  recognized  such  simple  and  con- 
fiding faith  ;  he  regarded  her,  addressed  her  in  the  language 
of  adoption  —  "Daughter,"  and  bestowed  upon  her  the 
blessing  that  she  asked  — "  be  of  good  comfort ;  thy  faith 
hath  made  thee  whole." 

Certain  blind  men  also  came  to  him,  saying,  "  Thou  Son 
of  David,  have  mercy  on  us."  He  touched  them,  and  their 
eyes  were  opened  ;  and  he  "  charged  them,  saying,  See  that 
no  man  know  it."  Now  the  reason  of  this  last  injunction 
we  do  not  know.  In  the  case  of  the  leper,  in  the  previous 
chapter,  we  can  understand  why  he  bade  him  be  silent, 
until  he  got  the  certificate  of  the  priest  that  proved  he  was 
healed,  and  then  he  might  proclaim  it.  In  this  case  we  do 
not  know  the  reason  ;  but  as  there  was  a  reason  in  the  one 
case,  there  no  doubt  was  a  reason  in  the  other :  it  is  stated 
in  the  one  instance,  it  is  omitted  in  tlie  other. 

We  next  find  one  "possessed  with  a  devil,"  —  that  is, 
literal  and  strict  demoniac  possession,  —  coming  to  him -and 
asking  mercy  ;  and  he  cast  out  the  devil. 

The  Pharisees  then  said,  in  awful  and  blasphemous  lan- 
guage, "  He  casteth  out  devils  through  the  prince  of  the 
devils."  In  another  Gospel  we  have  the  reply,  which  is 
most  conclusive,  "  How  can  this  be  ?  If  a  house  be  divided 
against  itself,  it  will  fall  to  the  ground  ;  and,  therefore,  if  I 
cast  out  devils  through  the  prince  of  the  devils,  there  is 
division  where  there  must  be  unity.  That  is  absurd.  Satan 
will  not  help  to  eject  his  own.  It  must  be  by  a  power,  not 
from  below,  but  clearly  from  above,  that  I  cast  out  devils 
from  them  that  are  possessed." 

After  this  we  have  Jesus  presented  to  us  as  the  untiring 
and  devoted  missionary.  He  "went  about  all  the  cities 
and  villages,  teaching  in  their  synagogues "  —  for  it  was 
holy  ground  wherever  he  could  stand,  and  it  was  a  sanctu- 
ary wherever  he  could  be  heard  —  "and  preaching  the 
good  news  of  the  kingdom,  and  healing  every  sickness  and 
every  disease  among  the  people." 


MATTHEW    IX.  79 

It  is  here,  then,  this  beautiful  and  truly  human  trait 
comes  out,  — "  When  he  saw  the  multitudes,  he  was  moved 
with  compassion  on  them,  because  they  fainted  and  were 
scattered  abroad,  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd  ;  "  on  which 
he  said,  in  one  of  those  maxims  that  are  never  forgotten, 
"  The  harvest  is  plenteous  "  —  there  is  plenty  to  do  —  "  but 
the  laborers  are  few."  How  true  is  this  of  the  great  city  in 
which  we  are  !  There  are  nearly  three  millions  of  inhabi- 
tants in  this  vast  metropolis ;  the  City  Mission  have  dis- 
covered, as  I  have  told  you,  that  not  above  one  hundred 
thousand,  that  is,  a  thirtieth  part,  are  communicants  in  any 
place  of  worship  at  all,  out  of  three  millions  ;  and  one  knows 
not  sometimes  whether  to  grieve,  or  to  be  amazed,  wlien  one 
hears  that  ministers  of  the  Gospel  belonging  to  different 
sections  of  the  church  of  Christ,  feel  rivah-y,  envy,  and 
jealousy  of  each  other,  amid  such  a  teeming  harvest :  where 
the  laborers  of  all  sorts  are  so  few  and  so  far  between,  how 
can  there  be  room  for  rivalry  ?  It  seems  almost  as  un- 
accountable as  if  two  small  fishes  in  the  ocean  should  quar- 
rel for  want  of  room.  It  seems  as  lamentable  as  if  two 
reapers,  amid  thousands  of  acres  covered  with  golden  grain, 
and  the  storms  and  rains  of  next  day  impending,  should 
quarrel  because  they  have  not  enough  to  do.  The  harvest 
is  plenteous,  the  laborers  are  few.  The  patients  on  their 
beds  are  countless,  the  physicians  near  them  are  few.  Let 
not  the  physicians  quarrel  about  their  diplomas,  while  the 
sick,  the  suffering,  and  the  dying  are  passing  to  the  judg- 
ment-seat, in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  without  an  ap- 
pliance to  relieve  them. 

And  now,  what  is  the  cure  for  this  ?  "  Pray  ye,  therefore, 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  laborers 
into  his  harvest."  What  an  extinction  is  this  to  all  those 
miserable  quarrels  that  have  agitated  the  church  of  Christ 
about  how  ministers  should  be  appointed !  One  thinks  the 
people  should  appoint;  another   the  patron;    another    the 


80  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

bishop ;  another  the  presbytery.  I  have  always  noticed 
that  presbyteries  and  bishops  have  never  made  the  best 
choice :  nepotism  has  been  too  popular  and  prevalent  in 
both.  But  neither  people,  nor  patron,  nor  bishop,  nor  pres- 
bytery can  create  a  minister  of  Christ :  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  alone  can  do  that ;  and  if  he  be  created  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  I  care  not  if  the  pope  have  the  placing  of  him ;  for 
he  had  not  the  making  of  him ;  and  therefore  the  pope's 
principles  will  not  be  maintained  by  him.  The  true  way  to 
get  right  ministers  is  to  think  less  about  patronage  and 
popular  election,  intrusion  and  non-intrusion,  and  to  pray, 
as  we  never  prayed  before,  that  the  Lord  of  the  harvest 
would  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest. 


Note.  —  In  oui-  Lord's  argument,  it  must  be  carefully  noted,  that 
he  does  not  ask.  Which  is  easiest,  —  to  forgive  sins,  or  to  raise  a  dead 
man?  (for  it  could  not  he  affirmed  that  that  of  forgiving  was  easier 
than  this  of  healing  ;)  but.  Which  is  easiest,  —  to  claim  this  power  or 
that ;  to  say.  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,  or  to  say,  Arise,  and  walk  ? 
That  (i.  e.  the  former)  is  easiest,  and  I  will  now  prove  my  right  to 
say  it,  by  saying  with  effect,  and  with  an  outward  consequence  setting 
its  seal  to  my  truth,  the  harder  Avord,  Arise  and  walk.  By  doing  that 
which  is  capable  of  being  put  to  the  proof,  I  will  vindicate  my  right 
and  power  to  do  that  which  in  its  very  nature  is  incapable  of  being 
proved.  By  these  visible  tides  of  God's  grace  I  will  give  you  to 
know  in  what  direction  the  great  undercurrents  of  his  love  are  set- 
ting, and  that  both  are  obedient  to  my  word.  From  this  which  I 
will  now  do  openly  and  before  you  all,  you  may  conclude  that  it 
is  "no  robbery"  (Phil.  ii.  6)  upon  my  part  to  claim  also  the  power 
of  forgiving  men  their  sins. — Alford. 


CHAPTER    X. 

IHE    TWELVE — LEARNING THE    MINISTRY — THE     LABORER   AND 

HIS  HIRE  —  THE  LI3IITS  OP  THE  APOSTLES'  DIOCESE  —  THE 
SAMARITANS  —  MIRACLES  —  PERSECUTION  —  INSPIRED  ORATORY 
—  god's  care  OF  HIS  AMBASSADORS  —  THE  SWORD  UNSHEATHED 
THROUGH    CHRISTIANITY  —  BEARING    THE    CROSS. 

In  the  chapter  we  have  read  we  have,  first  of  all,  laid 
before  us  the  mission,  or  commission,  of  the  twelve  apostles 
to  go  forth,  and,  throughout  the  land  of  Judea,  to  exercise 
their  great  gifts,  and  bring  into  practical  and  beneficent  use 
the  miraculous  powers  with  Avhich  they  were  here  endued. 

When  he  selected  these  twelve  apostles,  we  only  need  to 
read  their  names  and  to  study  their  biographies  to  see  that 
they  were  not  great  men,  lest  it  should  be  said  that  influence 
was  the  cause  of  the  Gospel's  success ;  they  were  not  rich 
men,  lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  wealth  paved  the  way 
to  the  accomplishment  of  their  ends ;  and  they  were  not 
learned  men,  lest  it  should  be  said  that  the  learning  of  this 
world,  and  not  the  power  of  the  cross,  was  the  secret  of  its 
spread ;  but  they  were  fishermen,  net  makers,  and  net 
menders,  taken  from  their  own  occupations,  endued  with  a 
new  Spirit,  invested  with  new  powers,  and  so  armed,  sent 
forth  to  make  proselytes,  not  to  a  perishing  sect,  but  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

You  will  recollect  that  two  other  apostles  were  subse- 
quently added ;  so  that  when  we  speak  of  the  twelve 
apostles,  we  ought  rather  to  say  the  fourteen  apostles  ;  for 


82  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

in  the  room  of  Judas,  Matthias  was  chosen,  and  the  Apostle 
Paul  was  subsequently,  as  last  of  all,  selected.  These  two 
were  added,  one  of  them  an  accomplished  scholar ;  and  prob- 
ably among  the  twelve  who  were  selected  by  our  blessed 
Lord  there  were  some  who  were  more  enlightened  than 
their  occupations  and  trades  would  seem  to  indicate.  At, all 
events,  Paul  was  a  scholar.  The  selection  of  Jesus  cannot 
be  fairly  adduced  as  an  argument  against  learning  in  the 
ministry  now ;  because  unless  you  can  show  that  the  min- 
istry now  has  power  to  heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers, 
raise  the  dead,  and  cast  out  devils,  you  cannot  infer  that 
they  ought  not  to  avail  themselves  of  all  the  elements  of 
power  that  Providence  puts  within  their  reach,  in  order  that 
these  elements  of  power  may  be  consecrated  to  the  spread 
and  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  One  evidence  of 
this  is  the  fact  that  at  Pentecost  the  apostles  spake  the 
tongue  of  every  land ;  but  now  no  missionary  can  do  so  by 
inspiration,  he  must  become  learned,  that  is,  he  must  try  by 
study  to  speak  strange  tongues,  as  he  is  not  now  miraculously 
endowed  with  that  gift.  Learning,  or  study,  is  therefore 
alike  dutiful  and  necessary. 

I  may  state,  that  among  the  twelve  there  is  mentioned, 
first  of  all,  "  Simon,  who  is  called  Peter."  I  think  it  would 
be  uncandid  to  the  Church  of  Rome  not  to  admit  that  in  the 
Gospels  Peter  seems,  at  least,  to  have  the  precedency.  His 
name  is  frequently  first  mentioned ;  certainly,  on  all  emer- 
gencies he  is  foremost  to  avow  what  was  innermost,  or  at 
least  uppermost,  in  his  heart.  But  it  must  always  be  added, 
in  justice  to  the  subject,  that  after  Pentecost  Peter  seems  to 
be  mingled  with  the  rest;  and  you  have  three  apostles  men- 
tioned by  Paul,  and  Peter's  name  located  in  the  middle,  and 
not  recorded  as  the  first;  and  you  have  the  Apostle  Paul 
rebuking  Peter  to  his  face ;  and  you  have  Peter  himself 
innocently  unconscious  that  he  had  any  primacy  at  all, 
when  he  writes  (1  Peter  v.  1),  "  I  who  am  a  copresbyter" 


MATTHEW    X.  83 

—  avvTTpsapvTepog — "  I  who  am  also  a  presbyter  with  you, 
write  to  you,  and  exhort  you."  But  any  precedence  would 
not  necessarily  be  superiority.  Primus  inter  pares,  that  is, 
a  first  among  equals,  is  not  a  Pope  "  sitting  in  the  temple  of 
God,  showing  himself  as  if  he  were  God." 

When  he  sends  them  forth,  he  bids  them  go  to  "  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,"  and  to  pass  by  the  Samaritans. 
Who  were  they  ?  The  Samaritans  were  the  remnants  of 
the  twelve  tribes  mingled  with  the  heathen  who  preceded 
them,  and  were  settled  in  the  half  tribe  of  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh,  or  in  that  part  of  Palestine  so  called.  They 
held  as  obligatory  only  the  five  books  of  Moses,  and  rejected 
the  Prophets  ;  they  believed  that  Mount  Zion  was  not  the 
place  where  the  temple  ought  to  be,  but  that  Mount  Gerizim, 
as  you  will  see  in  the  4th  chapter  of  John,  was  where  man 
ought  to  worship.  They  were  a  sort  of  Pagan  Jews,  half 
christianized,  if  I  may  use  the  expression.  Now,  our  Lord 
says  that  at  present,  for  great  ends,  you  are  to  restrict  your 
ministry  to  the  Jews  ;  and  it  was  only  after  he  rose  from 
the  dead,  that  he  lengthened  their  cords,  and  extended  their 
mission  to  the  utmost  isles  and  nations  of  the  Gentiles.  But 
it  Avas  necessary  that  among  the  Jews,  as  on  a  prominent 
platform  and  on  a  restricted  stage,  it  might  be  seen  what 
Christ  was,  what  he  suffered,  what  he  did,  who  his  people 
were,  and  what  they  would  become  ;  and  that  so  a  model, 
as  it  were,  might  be  exhibited,  in*form,  if  not  in  practice,  to 
after  ages.  But  it  ought  to  be  added,  that  even  in  later 
times  the  line  or  order  of  missionary  exertion  was  "  begin- 
ning at  the  Jews."  The  Christian  mission  was  to  begin 
with  the  Jew,  and  finish  with  the  Gentile  —  not  to  stop  at 
the  Jew,  nor  begin  with  the  Gentile,  but  to  begin  there,  aird 
go  forth  from  the  Jew  to  the  distant  tribes  of  the  earth,  the 
Jew  having  the  precedency  of  privilege,  and,  alas !  there- 
fore the  precedency  of  responsibility. 

Then  he  invested  them,  we  are  told  here,  with  miraculous 


84  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

powers  —  "  Heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise  the  dead, 
cast  out  devils."  These  were  prerogatives  that  are  not  now 
in  the  church.  Certain  parties  claim  them.  If  they  have 
them,  there  is  jiist  one  simple  proof —  and  the  only  proof 
that  will  satisfy  any  one  —  let  them  do  them.  It  is  a  mon- 
strous absurdity  to  say,  "  AYe  have  the  power  to  do  mira- 
cles," and  yet  never  to  give  us  the  opportunity  or  benefit  of 
witnessing  the  proof  of  the  inherent  power  by  the  perform- 
ance of  the  outer  miracles.  If  they  say,  "  Such  and  such 
miracles  were  done,  why,  in  the  case  of  the  Romish  mira- 
cles, the  details  of  which  I  have  very  carefully  read,  were 
they  done  in  distant  corners,  and  also,  singularly  enough, 
in  the  face  of  the  friends  of  the  party,  never  in  the  face  of 
enemies  to  Romanism  ?  But  the  miracles  of  the  apostles 
were  done  before  friend  and  foe,  before  sceptic  and  believer ; 
so  that  the  believer  said,  "  It  is  a  miracle,  and  it  is  the  finger 
of  God  ;  "  and  the  sceptic  said,  "  It  is  a  miracle,  but  it  is 
the  finger  of  Satan."  In  the  case  of  the  Romish  miracles, 
they  are  alleged  to  have  been  done  on  trivial  occasions,  for 
trivial  purposes,  in  the  face  of  special  friends,  and  we  only 
hear  of  them  second-hand,  and  some  are  more  than  ques- 
tioned by  parties  among  themselves  as  very  doubtful  indeed. 
However,  the  simple  way  of  satisfying  the  scepticism  of  all 
Protestants  is  for  the  followers  of  the  late  Mr.  Irving,  who 
claim  these  powers,  and  the  followers  of  Pio  Nono,  who 
also  assumes  these  powers,^'ust  to  come  into  this  great  me- 
tropolis, and  work  miracles  ;  and  then  we  will  believe  them, 
but  not  till  then. 

He  then  says,  "  Provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor 
brass,  in  your  purses,  nor  scrip  for  your  journey,  neither 
two  coats,  neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves :  for  the  workman  is 
worthy  of  his  meat."  You  say,  Is  not  this  a  precedent  for 
the  ministry  in  all  future  ages  ?  Should  the  ministry  take 
any  thing  by  way  of  provision  or  as  their  means  of  support  ? 
The  Apostle  Paul  answers  this.     He  says  that  the  laborer 


MATTHEW   X.  85 

is  worthy  of  his  hire.  He  says  that  he  had  a  right  to  sup- 
port, but  that  he  generously  waived  that  support.  But  you 
say,  here  is  apostolic  precedent  for  poverty.  But  those 
persons  who  say  that  ministers  of  the  Gospel  should  never 
take  any  thing,  in  any  shape,  either  from  the  people  or  the 
State,  in  order  to  support  themselves,  because,  they  say,  the 
apostles  did  not  do  so,  —  such  laymen  who  make  that  objec- 
tion should  also  remember  another  apostolic  practice,  that 
the  laity  of  that  day  brought  all  they  had,  and  laid  it  at  the 
apostles'  feet.  Now,  it  is  very  well  for  you  to  argue  that 
because  the  apostles  took  nothing,  future  ministers  must 
take  nothing ;  but  you  must  remember  the  other  side  of  the 
argument,  that  the  laity  of  that  age  kept  back  nothing,  but 
laid  all  at  the  apostles'  feet.  But  it  recommends  itself  to 
common  sense  that,  unless  there  be  manna  rained  miracu- 
lously from  heaven,  there  must  be  bread,  and  "  the  work- 
man," it  is  said,  "  is  worthy  of  his  meat."  He  who  sent 
these  apostles  thus  miraculously,  was  pledged  miraculously 
to  feed  them. 

He  adds,  that  when  they  entered  a  city,  they  were  to  give 
their  peace,  that  is,  pray  for  a  benediction  on  it ;  and  if  that 
people  received  them,  then  they  would  receive  the  blessing 
of  such  a  presence  ;  but  if  they  rejected  them,  then  they 
would  lose  the  blessing,  because  they  lost  or  sent  away  those 
who  could  communicate  that  blessing. 

He  then  tells  them  that  he  sent  them  forth  "  as  sheep  in 
the  midst  of  wolves,"  and  gives  a  prescription,  "  Be  ye 
therefore  wise  as  serpents,  and  harmless  as  doves."  The 
two  must  be  combined ;  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  —  not 
cunning,  but  wisdom,  of  which  the  serpent  was  the  hiero- 
glyph on  Egyptian  monuments,  and  the  proverbial  symbol 
in  ancient  times  ;  but  with  that,  all  the  innocence,  inoflfen- 
siveness,  and  harmlessness  of  the  dove. 

He  next  predicts  that  they  will  be  delivered  up  to  coun- 
cils, that  they  will  be  brought  before  governors,  js^nd  scourged 
8 


86  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

in  their  synagogues.  This  is  the  })ersecution  to  which  the 
church  of  Christ  has  been  subjected  from  the  beginning. 

And  he  bids  them  to  take  no  thought  of  what  they  should 
speak.  Now,  here  was  inspiration  from  on  high  pledged  for 
the  moment ;  but  I  think  that  the  minister  who  did  not  re- 
flect on  the  Friday  or  Saturday  upon  what  he  was  to  say  on 
the  Sunday,  would  have  very  little  to  say  then  that  would 
be  long  worth  hearing.  As  far  as  we  know,  means  are 
necessary  to  ends,  and  hard  study,  as  well  as  earnest  prayer, 
is  necessary  to  him  who  will  say  any  thing  that  will  do  peo- 
ple good. 

He  says  again,  "  The  brother  shall  deliver  up  the  brother 
to  death,  and  the  father  the  child :  and  the  children  shall 
rise  up  against  their  parents."  What  atrocities  are  these ! 
and  yet  such  atrocities  have  been  perpetrated  in  the  injured 
name  of  Christ,  by  them  who  hated  the  Gospel,  on  those 
who  preached  and  lived  it.  And  yet,  in  the  23d  verse, 
there  is  the  use  of  means,  as  long  as  means  were  possible ; 
for  when  you  are  persecuted  in  one  city,  you  are  not  to 
remain  in  it  needlessly,  to  provoke  or  encourage  persecution, 
but  to  flee  to  another. 

He  also  adds,  that  if  they  have  persecuted  the  Master  of 
the  house,  how  much  more  will  they  persecute  his  servants ; 
and  if  they  have  called  the  Master  bad  names,  "  how  much 
more  shall  they  call  them  of  his  household  ?  Fear  them 
not,  therefore ;  for  there  is  nothing  covered  that  shall  not 
be  revealed."  It  seems  at  first  difficult  to  see  the  applica- 
tion or  connection  of  this;  but  it  means,  "Fear  not:  for 
your  excellence  and  worth,  the  truth  of  your  cause,  and  the 
purity  of  your  motives,  though  concealed  by  the  smoke  of 
present  persecution,  yet  shall  ultimately  and  thoroughly  be 
revealed  and  made  known." 

"  Fear  not  them,"  he  says,  '*'  which  kill  the  body,  but  are 
not  able  to  kill  the  soul :  but  rather  fear  Him  "  —  act  as  in 
the  presence  of  Him,  and  under  a  sense  of  responsibility  to 


MATTHEW   X.  87 

Him  — "  which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in 
hell." 

And  then  he  argues,  most  beautifully,  that  if  God  feeds 
the  sparrow,  the  most  worthless  bird  of  all,  that  has  no 
beauty  in  its  plumage  and  no  music  in  its  song,  surely  he 
will  not  neglect  you.  "  The  very  hairs  of  your  head,"  he 
says,  "  are  numbered ; "  that  is,  the  most  minute  providen- 
tial superintendence  is  over  you,  and  neither  little  things 
nor  great  things  can  happen  to  you  without  the  cognizance, 
permission,  or  control  of  your  Father  Avho  is  in  heaven. 
How  very  beautiful  is  that  expression,  too,  that  God  feedeth 
the  sparrows  —  "  Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing  ? 
and  one  of  them  shall  not  fall  on  the  ground  without  your 
Father."  The  most  worthless  thing  never  takes  place  with- 
out God  seeing,  knowing,  or  permitting  it. 

there  is  what 

"  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to 
send  peace  on  earth  :  I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword." 
Why,  was  it  not  said,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  on 
earth  peace  ?  "  Is  it  not  said  that  Jesus  is  the  "  Prince  of 
peace  ?  "  Are  not  t^e  tidings  of  the  Gospel  called  tidings 
of  peace  ?  Then  what  can  this  mean  ?  You  are  to  distin- 
guish, in  interpreting  the  verse,  between  a  cause  and  an  oc- 
casion. For  instance,  a  hospital  is  the  cause  of  healing  to 
the  sick,  but  in  the  course  of  its  erection  it  may  be  the  occa- 
sion of  the  loss  of  life  to  several  workmen.  The  building 
of  the  hospital  may  be  the  occasion  of  an  accident,  as  it  is 
called,  that  may  end  in  the  loss  of  life ;  but  the  direct  object 
of  the  hospital  is  the  healing  of  the  sick.  Now  the  direct 
design  and  tendency  of  the  Gospel  is  to  promote  peace  ;  but 
it  will  be  the  occasion,  or  the  incidental  effect,  not  the  direct 
effect,  of  the  Gospel,  that  sin  will  rise  up  against  holiness, 
impurity  against  purity,  the  lover  of  the  world  against  the 
lover  of  God,  the  lover  of  the  praise  of  men  against  him 
who  loveth  the  praise  of  God  only ;  and  the  result  will  be 


88  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

—  incidental,  not  direct  —  occasion,  not  cause  —  that  "  I 
am  come  to  set  a  man  at  variance  against  his  father,  and  the 
daughter  against  her  mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against 
her  mother-in-law.  And  a  man's  foes  shall  be  they  of  his 
own  household."  But  these  divisions  that  are  to  go  into 
domestic  circles,  mark  jou,  are  all  in  reference  to  vital  things. 
When  you  hear  of  families  split  up  with  quarrels  about 
ecclesiastical  questions  —  when  you  hear  of  father  against 
mother,  and  child  against  parent,  and  parent  against  child, 
upon  some  question  of  ecclesiastical  economy,  or  upon  pres- 
byterianism,  or  episcopacy,  or  upon  an  established  church, 
or  a  voluntary  church,  —  then  you  have  a  division,  which 
may  be  by  pretext  associated  with  the  Gospel,  but  with 
which  the  Gospel  has  no  connection  at  all ;  for  it  is  the  same 
quarrel  that  takes  place  in  political  circles,  transferred  to 
ecclesiastical  ground.  The  dispute  here  referred  to  is  the 
dispute  about  living  religion.  Where  the  wife  becomes  a 
Christian  in  deed  and  in  truth,  and  cannot  see  it  right  to 
conform  to  what  the  husband  thinks  proper,  then  there  is 
such  a  division.  But  even  where  this  occurs,  it  may  be  mit- 
igated by  the  forbearance,  tenderness,  ^nd  gentleness  of  her 
who  is  in  the  right,  in  dealing  with  him  who  is  clearly  and 
scripturally  in  the  wrong.  There  is  nothing  that  we  should 
not  do  to  promote  peace,  except  the  compromise  of  duty 
and  living  truth ;  and  you  will  always  find  that  a  great  deal 
of  quarrel  may  be  avoided,  and  a  great  deal  of  peace  pro- 
moted, by  gentleness,  meekness,  forbearance,  and,  above  all, 
by  the  quiet  answer  that  always  turns  away  wrath.  Blessed 
are  the  peacemakers.  Most  quarrels  are  logomachies,  that 
is,  quarrels  arising  on  words  ;  and  often  —  unhappy  fact  — 
in  ecclesiastical  matters,  the  greatest  quarrel  is  where  there 
is  least  to  quarrel  about. 

He  adds,  "  He  that  taketh  not  his  cross,  and  followeth 
after  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."  When  a  criminal  was  cru- 
cified, according  to  Roman  punishment,  he  had  to  carry  his 


MATTHEW    X.  89 

cross  upon  his  back  to  the  place  of  execution.  That  was 
his  walk  of  shame,  sorrow,  and  infamy.  We  may  not  only 
have  to  die  as  martyrs,  but  to  carry,  long  in  life,  the  shame 
of  that  martyrdom  forethrown  —  to  bear  our  cross,  that  is, 
reproach,  for  Christ's  name's  sake.  Every  man  has  a  cross  ; 
and  if  that  cross  be  sent  in  providence,  or  incurred  by  holy 
conduct,  he  should  carry  it,  for  Christ's  sake. 

Jesus  says,  "  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it."  He 
who  compromises  duty  in  order  to  live,  will  find  that  life  a 
burden,  or  only  otherwise  lose  it ;  but  he,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  loses  his  temporal  life,  which  is  but  for  a  little,  for 
Christ's  sake,  shall  gain  it  and  eternal  life  also,  which  is 
forever. 


Note.  —  [5.  Aeyuv.]  If  we  compare  this  verse  with  ch,  xi.  1,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  this  discourse  of  our  Lord  was  delivered  at  one 
time,  and  that,  at  the  first  sending  of  the  twelve.  How  often  its  sol- 
emn injunctions  may  have  been  repeated  on  similar  occasions  we  can- 
not say :  many  of  them  reappear  at  the  sending  of  the  seventy  in 
Luke  X.  Its  primary  reference  is  to  the  then  mission  of  the  apostles 
to  prepare  liis  way ;  but  it  includes,  in  the  germ,  instructions  prophet- 
ically delivered  for  the  ministers  and  missionaries  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
end  of  time.  It  may  be  divided  into  three  great  portions,  in  each  of 
which  different  departments  of  the  subject  are  treated,  but  which  fol- 
low in  natural  sequence  on  one  another.  —  Alford. 

8* 


CHAPTER  XL 

MESSAGE    OF   THE    BAPTIST     TO   JESUS CREDENTIALS    OF   MESSIAH 

CHARACTER   OF    JOHN     THE     BAPTIST — ELIJAH  —  HEARERS  — 

NATIONAL     RESPONSIBILITY THE     "WISE     AND     PRUDENT '' 

BABES  —  THEIR   PRIVILEGE  —  INVITATION. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  chapter  I  have  read  a  mes- 
sage comes  from  John  the  Baptist,  the  herald  of  the  advent 
of  our  Lord,  who  had  been  cast  into  prison,  and  had  heard 
there  the  tidings  of  the  great  miracles  that  Jesus  was  doing 
in  the  land  of  Canaan,  asking  this  question  by  means  of  his 
disciples,  "  Let  me  know  if  thou  art  the  promised  Messiah, 
he  that  should  come,  who  was  spoken  of  in  the  118th  Psalm, 
'Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,'"  — 
the  common  name  of  the  Messiah,  —  "  or  art  thou  only  a 
forerunner  of  his  advent,  and  may  we  still  look  and  hope  for 
another?"  There  has  been  great  difficulty  in  determining 
why  John  asked  this  question  ;  because  it  is  plain  that  long 
before  now  he  knew  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Messiah. 
Some  have  said,  he  asked  it  because  he  had  heard  of  the 
wonderful  works  only,  and  wished  to  know  if  Jesus,  whom 
he  knew,  were  the  actual  doer  of  them.  Others  think  that 
in  prison  his  light  had  been  darkened  and  his  spirits  so 
depressed,  that  he  had  lost  for  a  season  his  living  apprehen- 
sion of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  and  that  he  sent  this  question 
for  his  own  personal  instruction.  But  it  seems  far  more 
natural,  worthy  of  John,  upon  the  one  hand,  and  of  that 
sincerity  for  which  he  was  distinguished,  on  the  other,  to 
suppose  that  he  asked  the  question,  not  for  his  own   sake, 


MATTHEW   XI.  91 

but  for  that  of  those  that  were  about  him ;  that  he  wished  a 
message  to  come  direct  from  the  Master,  through  his  disci- 
ples, that  these  disciples  might  be  convinced  that  Jesus  was 
what  he  had  preached  to  them,  that  he  actually  was  "  the 
light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of  his  people 
Israel." 

Jesus,  therefore,  answers  this  question,  and  so  answers  it, 
that  the  disciples  shall  receive  the  credentials,  while  John 
gets  the  proper  and  the  exact  reply  :  "  Tell  John  that  the 
blind  receive  their  sight,  —  was  that  ever  heard  of  before  in 
Israel  ?  Tell  him  that  the  lame  walk,  that  the  lepers  are 
cleansed,  which  is  the  distinctive  character  and  prerogative 
of  Deity."  The  leprosy  was  supposed  to  be  a  judgment 
from  Heaven,  that  Heaven  alone  could  remove.  The  priest 
might  pronounce  whether  it  were  healed,  or  not ;  but  the 
priest  could  not  heal  it :  and  therefore,  the  lepers  healed, 
the  leprosy  removed,  Avas  the  evidence  of  the  touch  of  the 
finger  of  God.  "  The  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised,  the 
poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them,"  —  as  if  it  were 
not  the  least  miracle  of  all,  that,  to  the  poor  and  downtrod- 
den of  mankind  were  preached  the  glorious  tidings  of  a 
home  beyond  the  stars,  and  a  way  to  it,  and  rich  consola- 
tions more  than  compensatory  for  all  the  outer  ills  they  are 
heir  to.  These  are  the  unequivocal  credentials  of  the  Great 
Messiah,  and  proof  that  what  He  does  is  the  echo  of  what 
the  prophet  said,  and  that  He  is  in  all  points  the  counterpart 
of  Him  predicted  in  the  pages  of  Isaiah,  announced  from 
the  beginning,  and  attested  by  John. 

They  then  departed,  and  Jesus  began  to  speak  to  the 
multitude  concerning  John,  and  said,  "  What  did  ye  go  out 
to  see  ?  for  great  crowds  are  gone  after  him.  To  see  one  of 
your  ordinary  popular  speakers,  who  make  a  flash,  like  a 
meteor,  for  a  day,  and  then  leave  the  darkness  denser  behind 
them  for  their  having  passed  through  it  —  a  mere  temporary 
reed  shaken  by  the  wind  ?  "     To  this  he  says,  "  No.     Then 


92  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

what  went  ye  out  for  to  see  ?  a  man  clothed  in  soft  raiment 
—  a  man  who  takes  all  things  very  easily,  who  lives  thor- 
oughly at  his  ease ;  and  is  clad  in  soft  and  beautiful  apparel  ? 
No,  that  cannot  be  the  case  ;  because  such  men  live  in  pal- 
aces, whereas  John  has  had  his  habitation  in  the  desert. 
Then  what  went  ye  out  for  to  see  ?  a  prophet  ?  So  far  he 
is  a  prophet,  but  he  is  more  than  a  prophet ;  for  he  is  spec- 
ially singled  out  as  the  arch-prophet  of  all,  when  it  is  said 
by  the  prophet  Malachi,  '  Behold,  I  send  my  messenger  be- 
fore thy  face,  which  shall  prepare  thy  way  before  thee.' " 
Our  Lord  alters  a  pronoun  here.  In  the  original  it  is, 
"  Behold,  I  will  send  my  messenger,  and  he  shall  prepare 
the  way  before  me"  where  Jehovah  speaks  ;  and  Jesus,  thus 
altering  the  pronoun,  "  I  send  my  messenger  before  thy  face," 
that  is,  before  the  Messiah's  fac€,  is  assuming  to  himself  the 
position  and  the  prerogative  of  Deity. 

He  then  says,  "  Among  them  that  are  born  of  women 
there  hath  not  risen  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist,"  —  not, 
a  holier  man,  —  that  is  not  tlie  meaning.  He  is  speaking 
of  his  office  ;  and  he  says,  that  "  among  all  that  have  pre- 
ceded me,  the  Messiah,  born  of  women,  there  has  not  been 
one  who  has  occupied  a  loftier,  more  momentous,  more  re- 
sponsible, or  more  dignified  position  than  John  the  Baptist ; 
and  yet,"  he  says,  "  notwithstanding,  he  that  is  least  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he."  What  kingdom  ? 
The  visible  church  on  earth.  How  greater  ?  He  enjoys 
more  privileges,  he  has  a  brighter  light ;  for  John  saw  the 
Lamb  slain  in  prospect,  but  we  have  read  of  the  Lamb  slain 
in  retrospect.  Many  prophets  and  kings  desired  to  see 
what  we  see,  and  were  not  permitted ;  and  therefore,  we  who 
have  seen,  and  heard  with  our  ears,  and  read,  and  learned, 
are  thus  far  more  privileged  than  John  the  Baptist,  than 
whom  none  greater  born  of  women  had  preceded  him  in  the 
previous  dispensation. 

And  he  adds,  "  This  is  Elias  which  was  for  to  come." 


MATTHEW  xr.  93 

This  is  plainly  to  be  understood,  "  in  the  spirit  of  Elias ; " 
for,  first,  Jesus  absolutely  predicts  that  Elijah  shall  first 
come,  "  and  restore  all  things,"  which  John  never  did,  and 
then  Christ  shall  come  ''  the  second  time,  without  sin  unto 
salvation."  Secondly,  John  himself  expressly  says,  "  I  am 
no^  that  prophet  "  —  Elijah,  —  "  but  the  voice  of  one  crying 
in  he  wilderness."  And  therefore,  this  assertion  is  to  be 
explained  in  the  light  of  previous  ones,  and  it  is  therefore 
to  be  understood  that  John  was  Elias  in  this  respect,  that  he 
came  in  the  spirit  of  Elias,  herald  of  a  Christ  Avho  was  to 
suffer ;  just  as  the  Scriptures  show  that  Elijah  will  literally 
come  before  the  last  day,  and  herald  in  the  advent  of  Christ 
who  is  to  reign  in  glory  everlasting. 

But  our  blessed  Lord  says,  "  The  perversity  of  this  gen- 
eration is  such,  that  I  know  not  what  to  liken  them  unto. 
It  is  like  unto  children  sitting  in  the  markets."  You  will 
observe  the  play,  if  I  may  use  such  an  expression,  upon  the 
word  children.  "  Whereunto  shall  I  liken  this  generation?" 
that  is,  evidently,  "  the  cliildren  of  this  generation,"  of  whom 
he  has  spoken  before  ;  and  he  says  he  likens  them  to  literal 
children,  who  are  sitting  in  the  markets,  and  saying,  "  We 
have  piped  unto  you,  but  all  our  music  will  not  prevail  upon 
you  to  dance ;  we  have  mourned  unto  you,  but  all  our  sobs 
and  sorrows  will  not  induce  you  to  sympathize  with  us,  and 
weep  with  them  that  weep.  We  know  not  what  plan  to 
pursue.  For  John  came  neither  eating  nor  drinking;  and 
what  did  you  say  ?  He  hath  a  devil.  The  Son  of  man 
came  eating  and  drinking,  like  the  rest  of  his  brethren," 
whom  he  was  like,  sin  only  excepted,  "  and  you  only  re- 
garded him  as  a  man  gluttonous,  and  a  wine-bibber."  It  is 
not,  then,  the  character  of  the  messenger  that  prevents  the 
reception  of  the  message  ;  but  it  is  the  condition  of  the 
hearers  of  it,  whose  hearts  need  to  be  renewed  that  they 
may  accept  it.  So  still,  what  we  want,  in  order  to  embrace 
the  Gospel,  and  to  understand  the  Bible,  is,  not  an  altera 


94  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

tion  in  the  message,  which  is  perfect,  but  an  alteration  in 
the  heart  of  the  reader  of  the  message,  which  needs  to  be 
renewed.    "  Nevertheless,  wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children." 

And  then,  in  strains  the  most  solemn,  and  most  awfully 
eloquent,  giving  glimj^ses  of  the  world  to  come,  and  partially 
lifting  up  the  veil  that  shrouds  the  future  retribution,  he  pro- 
nounces a  judgment  upon  Jerusalem  and  its  children,  com- 
paring its  deserts  to  those  of  cities,  the  ruins  of  which  were 
scattered  over  all  the  earth,  and  the  memorials  of  which 
they  all  were  thoroughly  awake  to.  He  says,  that  if  the 
mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon  that  were 
done  in  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  they  would  have  repented. 
That-  shows  that  repentance  on  the  part  of  a  nation  averts 
its  ruin ;  it  reveals,  that  there  is  a  connection  between  na- 
tional purity  and  piety,  and  national  safety  ;  and  it  shows 
that  the  greater  a  nation's  privileges  are,  the  greater  is  that 
nation's  responsibility.  And  the  whole  of  this  is  cumulative. 
If  it  can  be  so  said  of  Chorazin,  of  Bethsaida,  of  Caper 
naum,  it  may  still  more  be  said  of  England.  If  they  hiA 
heard  the  truths  that  reverberate  in  our  streets,  —  if  they 
had  possessed  the  Book  whose  page  is  open,  and  which  no 
man  can  clasp,  and  no  man's  shadow  dare  darken,  —  if  they 
had  heard  the  Gospel  preached  in  so  many  pulpits,  and  had 
had  access  to  so  many  faithful  ministers  throughout  the  land, 
then  their  judgments  had  been  averted,  their  sun  had  not 
set,  they  would  have  been  still  lasting  monuments  to  present 
generations  that  righteousness  exalteth  a  people. 

And  lastly,  at  the  close  of  this  most  solemn  announce- 
ment, he  addresses  God,  "  I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes ;  " 
that  is,  those  great  mysteries  which  he  had  come  to  teach. 
What  does  this  mean  ?  Not  that  a  wise  man  is  necessarily 
further  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  an  ignorant  man. 
On  the  contrary,  the  more  enlightened  one  is,  the  more  likely 


MATTHEW    XI.  95 

be  is  to  comprehend  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  when  they 
are  exphiined.  But  it  is  those  who  think  themselves  wise 
and  prudent ;  just  as  he  spoke  of  the  righteous — "The 
Son  of  man  is  not  come  to  call  the  righteous,"  that  is,  those 
who  think  themselves  so,  "  but  sinners  to  repentance."  So 
God  has  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  in  their  own  con- 
ceits, the  prudent  in  their  own  estimate,  to  whom  the  Gospel 
is  foolishness.  To  the  Greeks,  the  representatives  of  wis- 
dom, the  Gospel  was  foolishness ;  to  the  Jews,  the  adherents 
of  a  past  and  a  dying  age,  it  was  a  stumbhngblock ;  to  the 
wise  and  prudent  in  their  own  conceits  it  is  an  inscrutable 
mystery ;  and  ever  as  they  hear  its  simplest  announcements, 
they  exclaim  in  their  hearts  what  they  exclaimed  in  the 
days  of  Jesus  with  their  lips,  "  Doth  he  not  speak  parables  ?  " 
But  it  is  said,  it  is  revealed  to  babes,  —  "  Except  ye  become 
as  little  children,  ye  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
But  not  babes  in  all  respects  —  not  babes  as  the  representa- 
tives of  weakness,  but  babes  as  the  representatives  of  that 
confiding  affection  to  a  parent,  that  unquestioning  simplicity 
amounting  almost  to  credulity,  with  which  a  babe  receives 
the  lesson  that  a  parent  teaches,  and  believes  the  judgment 
that  a  parent  gives.  So  a  Christian  becoming  like  a  little 
child,  leans  on  his  Father,  loves  his  Father,  trusts  in  his 
word  as  law,  and  follows  his  example  as  his  perfect  model, 
and  thus  receives  in  all  its  beauty  and  its  fulness  what  is  all 
mystery  to  the  wise  and  the  prudent  of  this  world. 

And  finally,  after  this  he  announces  that  "no  man  know- 
eth  the  Father,"  that  is,  the  depths  of  his  attributes,  which 
no  man  can  sound,  "  save  the  Son ;  and  no  man  knoweth 
the  mystery  of  the  Son  "  —  "  the  mystery  of  godliness,  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh  "  —  "  save  the  Father ; "  and  he  who 
knows  it  partially,  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  in  this  dispen- 
sation, is  he  to  whom  the  Son  is  pleased  to  reveal  it. 

And  hence  one  of  those  great  invitations  is  addressed  to 
all  humanity,  that  comes  like  a  burst  of  heaven's  own  light. 


96  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

SO  beautiful,  so  sweet  to  the  human  heart,  so  musical  to  the 
human  ear,  so  consolatory  to  the  weary  and  heavy  laden  of 
mankind,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  —  "  what  all  creation  cannot  give 
you,  —  whaf  all  art,  science,  palace,  princedom,  power,  wealth, 
and  rank  cannot  give  you  —  "  Come  unto  me,  and  I  will  give 
you  "  —  that  which  the  soul  yearns  for,  that  which  the  soul 
ever  tries  to  dig  out  of  ea-rth,  indicating  how  thoroughly  it 
has  fallen,  but  that  which  the  soul  never  can  find  equal  to 
satisfy  its  infinite  wants,  revealing  hoAV  great  that  soul  is  — 
"  rest."  And  come  unto  whom  ?  Not  to  the  priest,  not  to 
the  Church,  not  to  the  sacrament,  —  all  these  are  but  step- 
ping-stones to  Christ ;  but  avail  yourself,  greatest  sinner, 
worst  and  most  inveterate  sinner,  weary  with  your  sins, 
heavy  laden  with  the  load  of  a  lifetime's  guilt  —  avail  thy- 
self of  thine  own  great  privilege  freely  given,  though  bought 
with  blood  —  come  at  once,  just  as  you  are,  to  Christ  just  as 
he  is ;  and  as  sure  as  you  come,  his  own  word,  oath,  and 
promise  are  pledged,  "  I  will  give  you  what  none  besides 
can  give,  and  what  none,  Avhen  you  get  it,  can  take  away, 
the  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God." 

And  instead  of  finding  all  this  sad  and  sorrowful,  you  will 
learn  by  beautiful  and  blessed  experience,  that  "my yoke  is 
easy,  and  my  burden  is  light."  And  this  reminds  me  of  one 
truth,  which  I  will  state,  and  after  which  I  close.  When 
you  ask  an  unconverted  man  to  take  upon  him  all  the  duties 
of  the  Christian,  and  to  give  up  all  the  pursuits  of  the  sen- 
sualist and  the  worldling,  he  naturally  says,  "  I  could  not  do 
so  and  live.  If  I  were  not  to  go  twice  a  week  to  the  play- 
house, once  a  year  to  the  race-course,  and  another  day  or 
week  to  the  gambling  table,  I  should  commit  suicide,  I 
should  not  know  what  to  do  to  kill  time."  This  is  perfectly 
natural ;  because  he  looks  at  what  is  required  of  a  Christian 
from  the  stand-point  of  an  unconverted  man,  and  forgets 
that  when  he  accepts  Christ's  yoke,  he  will  not  only  feel 


MATTHEW    XL  97 

obligatory  the  new  pursuits  that  seem  to  him  now  so  impos- 
sible, but  that  he  will  get  a  new  taste,  and  new  preferences, 
that  will  make  these  pursuits  welcome.  And  thus,  those 
very  pursuits  which  may  seem  to  you  now  almost  exactions 
of  life  itself,  will  be,  when  you  have  new  strength,  new  life, 
new  tastes,  new  grace,  new  preferences,  lik(^  a  yoke  that  is 
most  easy,  and  a  burden  that,  instead  of  being  heavy,  will 
be  rather  wings  that  lift  you  up,  and  on  which  you  soar,  till 
faith  is  lost  in  fruition,  and  hope  in  having. 

Blessed  God,  inspire  our  hearts  by  thy  Holy  Spirit  with 
thy  precious  truth,  for  Christ's  sake. 


Note.  —  Is  (jid^ETai  in  a  good  or  a  bad  sense  1  Does  it  mean,  "  is 
taken  by  force,"  and  the  following;,  "  and  men  violently  press  in  for  their 
share  of  it,  as  for  plunder  ?  "  or  does  it  mean,  "  is  violently  resisted," 
and  "violent  men  tear  it  to  pieces  ?  "  (viz.  its  opponents,  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees).  This  latter  meaning  bears  no  sense  as  connected  with 
the  discourse  before  us.  The  subject  is  not  the  resistance  made  to  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  but  the  difference  between  a  prophesied  and  a 
present  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  fifteenth  verse  closes  the  subject ; 
and  the  complaints  of  the  arbitrary  prejudices  of  "  this  generation," 
begin  with  verse  16.  We  conclude,  then,  that  these  words  imply 
"  from  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  until  now  (i.  e.  inclusively  from 
the  beginning  of  his  preaching),  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  pressed  into, 
and  violent  persons  —  eager,  ardent  multitudes  —  seize  on  it." 

[30.]  See  1  John  v.  3.  Owing  to  the  conflict  with  evil  ever  incident 
to  our  corrupt  nature,  even  under  grace,  the  avanavatg  which  Christ 
gives  is  yet  to  be  viewed  as  a  yoke  and  a  burden,  seen  on  this  its  pain- 
ful side,  of  conflict  and  sorrow ;  but  it  is  a  light  yoke,  —  the  inner  rest 
in  the  soul,  giving  a  peace  which  passeth  understanding,  and  bearing 
it  up  against  all.  —  See  Col.  iv.  16. 

9 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  HUNGEY  DISCIPLES   EAT   CORN — THE    PHARISEES    CAVIL RE- 
PLY OF  JESUS  —  SABBATH  HEALING  —  CRYSTAL   PALACE LONG 

HOURS  —  CONVOCATION  —  PRIEST,  PRINCE,  AND  PEOPLE BLAS- 
PHEMY AGAINST  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  —  DISLODGING  EVIL  BY  GOOD 
VIRGIN   MARY. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  interesting  collection  of 
scenes  and  providential  paragraphs  which  we  have  now 
read,  we  find  it  first  recorded,  that  as  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
passed  through  the  corn  fields,  pining  with  hunger,  and 
weary,  they  did  wliat  it  was  permitted  to  a  hungry  person, 
who  had  no  money  wherewith  to  purchase  food,  to  do  — 
namely,  gather  the  ears  of  corn,  grind  them  in  their  hands, 
and  satisfy  the  strong  claims  and  imperious  necessities  of 
insufferable  hunger.  The  disciples  did  as  others  had  done 
before.  But  it  happened  to  be  the  Sabbath  day  on  which 
they  did  this ;  and  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  were  the 
great  traditionists  of  the  age,  and  who  had  given  to  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath  an  interpretation  it  was  never 
meant  to  bear,  and  who  were  besides  too  ready,  not  from 
their  zeal  for  the  Sabbath,  but  from  their  hatred  to  Jesus, 
because  he  prophesied  evil  concerning  them,  to  lay  hold  of 
any  handle  that  came  within  their  reach,  in  order  to  upset 
the  claims,  injure  the  usefulness,  and  arrest  the  success  of 
the  Son  of  God,  —  these  Scribes  and  Pharisees  said :  "  Thy 
disciples  do  that  which  is  not  lawful  to  do  upon  the  Sabbath 
day."  It  seemed  as  if  they  objected  because  of  their  zeal 
for  the    Sabbath;   they  really  objected   because  of   their 


MATTHEW    XII.  99 

hatred  to  the  Son  of  Man.  How  often  is  pretended  piety- 
made  to  cover  real  malice !  How  often  do  men  seem  to  be 
most  religious  when  they  are  just  about  to  perpetrate  the 
greatest  wrong?  Not  that  religion  is  to  blame,  but  that 
man's  depraved  heart  is  to  blame,  that  makes  use  of  the 
best  thing  wherewith  to  cover  the  worst  practices. 

When  Jesus  heard  them  say  this,  he  answered  —  "  Have 
ye  not  read  what  David  did,  when  he  was  an  hungered,  and 
they  that  were  with  him ;  how  he  entered  into  the  house  of 
God,"  that  is,  the  tabernacle,  "  and  did  eat  the  shewbread, 
which  was  not  lawful  for  laymen  to  eat  at  all  ?  "  You  Phar- 
isees are  the  great  sticklers  for  precedent.  Almost  all  eccle- 
siastics are  so.  Whether  south  or  north,  what  they  want  is 
always  a  precedent ;  and  very  often  they  smother  a  text 
with  a  precedent,  and  make  that  to  be  good,  which  no  text 
justifies,  because  some  precedent,  which  may  be  based  on  a 
prejudice,  exists  for  it.  Jesus  appeals  to  them,  and  says  — 
Here  is  a  precedent.  David  went  into  the  holy  place,  and 
ate  the  shewbread,  twelve  loaves  of  which  were  appointed 
to  be  there,  and  lie  the  whole  week ;  and  he  did  so  because 
otherwise  he  would  have  died  of  hunger;  and  yet  you  do 
not  condemn  David.  Where  is  the  record  of  your  con- 
demnation of  him  ?  And  in  the  next  place,  you  know  that 
the  priests  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  in  order  to  offer  up  the 
usual  sacrifices,  which  require  two  additional  lambs,  have  to 
slay  them,  to  light  the  fires,  and  to  do  a  great  deal  of  secu- 
lar drudgery.  This  they  must  do ;  it  is  necessary  and  inev- 
itable. They,  therefore,  profane  the  Sabbath,  according  to 
your  interpretation  of  the  letter  of  the  law,  but  they  do 
what  is  necessary,  and,  therefore,  they  do  not  profane  it  in 
the  spirit  of  it.  So  that  you  have  an  instance  of  a  work  of 
mercy  done  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  case  of  David;  and 
another  of  a  work  of  necessity  in  the  case  of  the  priests ; 
and  both  these  cases  justify  what  seems  to  be  the  transgres- 
sion of  the  letter,  but  what  is  really  no  transgression  of  the 
spirit  of  the  command. 


100  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

He  then  adds  this  beautiful  fact  —  "  There  is  One  among 
you  greater  than  the  temple."  He  said  — "  Destroy  this 
temple,"  that  is,  his  body,  "  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it 
up."  "If,  then,"  as  if  He  had  said,  "you  have  such  rever- 
ence to  the  temple,  how  much  more  should  you  have  to  the 
Lord  of  the  temple  ?  But  your  idolatry  of  the  stones  and 
the  timber  is  so  intense,  that  in  your  admiration  of  the 
material,  you  have  lost  all  apprehension  of  the  moral ;  and 
thus,  the  builder  of  the  house  is  less  valued  by  you  than 
the  house  itself."  So  it  is  still  with  superstitious  men. 
Holy  places  are  preferred  by  them  to  holy  acts  ;  holy  stones 
are  preferred  by  them  to  holy,  beautiful,  and  Christian 
deeds.  A  man  who  will  not  for  the  world  go  irreverently 
into  the  sanctuary  —  and  so  far  that  is  proper  —  will  do 
what  is  unjust,  untrue,  and  dishonest  in  the  market.  For 
wherever  there  is  excessive  attachment  to  a  ceremony, 
there  is  generally  under  it  some  disguised  or  admitted  lax- 
ity in  the  observance  of  a  moral  commandment. 

"And  when  he  was  departed  thence,  he  went  into  their 
synagogue,"  and  there  met  wnth  another  case ;  and  I  recol- 
lect that  in  a  parallel  passage  in  another  Gospel,  he  adds  — 
that  "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  not  man  for  the  Sab- 
bath." That  is  a  most  important  lesson.  The  Sabbath  was 
not  made  first,  and  man  created  in  order  to  fit  it;  but  man 
was  made  first,  and  the  Sabbath  was  instituted  in  order  to 
fit  man.  In  other  words,  we  are  not  for  the  Sabbath,  but 
the  Sabbath  is  for  us ;  and  any  one  who  can  comprehend 
that  great  truth  in  its  length  and  its  breadth,  will  not  be 
likely  to  have  a  scrupulous  conscience  in  reference  to  the 
Sabbath,  which  is  bad  one  way ;  nor  wall  he  have  a  latitu- 
dinarian  conscience,  or  tendency  to  profane  it,  which  is  as 
bad  in  the  opposite  direction.  This  text  is  often  quoted  by 
men  who  have  no  reverence  for  the  Sabbath,  and  I  have 
heard  it  quoted  in  order  to  justify  the  proposition,  that  the 
Crystal  Palace  —  now  erecting  as  a  private  speculation  — 


MATTHEW   XII.  lOt 

should  be  opened  on  Sunday.  Now,  I  took  an  active  part, 
in  company  with  most  excellent  and  Christian  men,  in  en- 
deavoring, by  petition  and  argument,  to  preserve  that  beau- 
tiful  structure,  as  I  could  have  wished,  for  the  use,  enjoy- 
ment, and  instruction  of  the  people,  —  especially  the  work- 
ing classes ;  but  it  was  clearly  understood,  and  when  I  was 
asked  publicly  to  advocate  it,  Lord  Shaftesbury  told  me  that 
if  Government  consented  to  our  petition,  it  was  not  to  be 
opened  on  the  Sabbath  day.  It  was  one  of  the  glories  of 
1851  that  on  that  day  it  was  shut.  Now,  it  does  seem  very 
plausible  to  say  that  the  people  must  have  pleasure  and 
health  on  the  Sabbath,  and  that  it  is  for  their  good  to  open 
the  new  Palace.  But  it  seems  to  me,  that  if  it  were  pro- 
posed that  there  should  be  fields  and  parks  opened  round 
London,  where  the  poor  man,  confined  sixteen  hours  every 
day  in  close  shops,  could  find  air  and  enjoyment  for  two  or 
three  hours  on  Sunday,  between  the  services,  that  would  be 
so  far  less  liable  to  objection.  But  recollect,  it  would  not 
be  the  acquisition  of  health  to  go  into  a  heated  atmosphere, 
and  croAvded  rooms,  and  to  see  things  most  instructive  and 
proper  in  their  place,  —  that  is  not  health  ;  it  is  only  a  trans- 
ference from  a  Christian  sanctuary  into  a  philosophical 
sanctuary  —  if  I  may  call  it  so  —  equally  close  and 
crowded,  and  meanAvhile  the  sanctuary's  teaching  would 
be  lost  altogether.  The  British  Museum  would  soon  be 
open,  shows  and  entertainments  would  follow  also.  To 
those  who  are  advocating  this,  I  would  propose  —  what 
would  be  far  better,  and  meet  all  sides  —  that  masters 
should  not  be  so  anxious  to  screw  the  last  atom  of  life  and 
strength  out  of  their  servants,  as  too  many  do ;  but  that 
they  should  give  half  of  each  Saturday  to  visit  the  Crystal 
Palace.  The  fact  is,  that  masters  and  employers  being  de- 
sirous to  work  their  servants  longer  still,  if  possible,  on 
other  days,  think  they  will  give  them  a  treat,  by  enabUng 
them  to  go  to  the  Crystal  Palace  on  Sunday,  and  so  con< 

9* 


102  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

tinue  long  hours  on  Saturday.  The  proper  way  is,  for 
houses  of"  business  to  shut  up  earlier  every  night  and  earlier 
on  Saturday ;  and  then  the  Sabbath  will  be  kept  for  the 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  the  employed  will  have  part  of  Sat- 
urday for  natural,  and  scientific,  and  interesting  studies,  and 
they  will  have  the  Sabbath  for  the  Sabbath's  work. 

Kext,  a  poor  man  came  to  Jesus  with  a  withered  hand, 
and  they  asked  him  the  old  question  —  "Is  it  lawful  to  heal 
on  the  Sabbath  ?  "  And  Jesus  said  —  "  Here  is  a  plain 
illustration  of  it :  if  a  sheep  fall  into  a  pit  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  the  owner  will  take  it  out.  It  is  necessary,  it  is  duti- 
ful." Whatever  your  health  imperiously  demands,  you  are 
bound  to  do  upon  the  Sabbath.  Whatever  mercy  requires, 
you  are  bound  to  do.  Your  sheep  falling  into  a  stream, 
you  are  bound  to  go  and  rescue.  A  man  meeting  with  an' 
accident,  you  are  bound  to  go  and  help.  A  person  being 
visited  with  disease,  you  do  well  to  go,  if  he  be  your  neigh- 
bor or  relation,  and  sympathize  Avith.  But  in  order  to  set- 
tle the  matter,  Jesus  did  not  on  this  occasion  prescribe  or 
compound  a  medicine  ;  so  that  they  could  not  say  that  he 
violated  the  letter  ;  but  lie  told  him  to  stretch  out  his  hand, 
and  it  was  well  —  thus  even  tlie  letter  of  the  law  was  kept. 
Now  there  seems  to  be  here  almost  an  absurdity.  You 
know  what  paralysis  is.  The  person  afflicted  with  it  can- 
not use  his  limb  ;  it  is  unmanageable  by  him ;  he  cannot 
send  his  volition  through  the  nerves  and  sinews.  This  man 
might  have  said  —  "  What  is  the  use  of  telling  me  to  stretch 
out  my  hand?"  He  obeyed  notwithstanding.  The  secret 
of  power  is  this,  whatever  Jesus  bids  you  do,  he  gives 
strength  to  do.  When  Jesus  says,  "  Believe,"  if  you  say, 
"  How  can  I  do  that  ?  faith  is  the  gift  of  God,"  that  indi- 
cates in  reality  your  unwillingness  to  believe ;  for  what 
Christ  bids,  you  are  to  set  about  doing,  asking  no  questions, 
and  wasting  no  time,  and  you  will  find  yourself  endued 
with  strength  fi'om  on  high  to  believe,  and  go  on  rejoicing. 


MATTHEAV    XII.  103 

We  read  that  "  the  Pharisees  went  out  and  held  a  council 
against  him."  That  was  just  the  old  version  of  what  we 
hear  still.  Whenever  ecclesiastics  cannot  confute  a  solid 
argument,  they  will  combine  and  hold  what  they  are  now 
clamoring  for — a  convocation;  and  the  meaning  of  a  con- 
vocation is  simply  that  the  power  be  granted  to  the  Tracta- 
rians  to  expel  the  Protestant  ministers  out  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  to  let  the  church  of  Exeter  and  baptismal 
regeneration  be  regarded  as  the  type  of  that  Church.  They 
cannot  meet  Protestant  arguments  with  more  solid  argu- 
ments, and  therefore  they  would  call  a  convocation,  feeling 
that  then  they  can  carry  their  notions  with  a  majority,  as  is 
the  case  with  tares,  which  are  too  often  the  majority  in  the 
church. 

We  read  that  Jesus  was  followed  by  multitudes.  And  in 
every  case  we  see  that  by  his  prudence,  tenderness,  and  for- 
bearance, that  was  fulfilled  which  was  predicted  by  Isaiah  — 
"  He  shall  not  strive  nor  cry,  neither  shall  any  man  hear  his 
voice  in  the  streets.  A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and 
smoking  flax  shall  he  not  quench,  till  he  send  forth  judgment 
unto  victory." 

Next  was  brought  to  him  a  man  "  possessed  with  a  devil ; " 
and  in  addition  to  this  —  for  it  was  not  necessarily  the  con- 
sequence of  this  —  he  was  blind  and  dumb  ;  Jesus  instantly 
cast  out  the  spirit,  and  healed  the  man,  "  insomuch  that  the 
blind  and  dumb  both  spake  and  saw." 

We  read  that  "  all  the  people  "  —  who  are  always  in  mat- 
ters of  common  sense  much  in  advance  of  the  council  or  the 
convocation  —  "  were  amazed,  and  said.  Is  not  this  the  son 
of  David  ?  "  If  you  desired  to  obtain  the  truest  exposition 
of  the  Word  of  God,  I  doubt  whether  the  council  or  the 
convocation  could  give  it.  In  such  a  case,  I  would  rather 
select  a  jury  of  twelve  pious  honest  men,  who  never  were  at 
college,  and  know  not  Greek  or  Latin,  and  they  would  cer- 
tainly give  a  more  honest,  if  not  a  more  learned  interpreta- 


1G4  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

tion  of  a  passage  of  God's  holy  word,  "  All  the  people  were 
amazed,"  while  the  Pharisees  were  all  exasperated,  and  the 
people  said,  "  Is  not  this  the  son  of  David  ?  "  They  called 
no  council  against  hira.  How  remarkable  it  is,  that  in  the 
large  heart  of  humanity  itself  there  is  a  sort  of  roundabout 
large  common  sense,  that  showed  itself  often  in  the  days  of 
our  Lord,  and  breaks  out  still.  It  is  said  of  Jesus,  that 
whilst  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  persecuted  him,  "  the  com- 
mon people  heard  him  gladly."  Jesus  was  the  most  popular 
of  preachers  amongst  the  multitudes  of  the  common  people : 
only  by  bitter  and  acrimonious  ecclesiastics  was  he  opposed, 
assailed,  and  attacked.  A  crowd  will  still  gather  round  the 
lifting  up  of  Christ  crucified.  And  it  is  very  remarkable 
too,  (and  this  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,)  that  the  worst  er- 
rors —  now  I  do  not  speak  rashly,  I  speak  from  really  and* 
laboriously  looking  into  it  —  the  worst  errors  that  have  been 
hatched,  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  have  been 
hatched  by  priests  and  bishops,  and  monks  and  synods,  and 
convocations  and  anchorites,  and  have  been  resisted  by  the 
people,  and,  let  me  add,  almost  as  often  by  the  prince  also. 
In  fact  the  State  has  often,  if  not  generally,  allied  itself  with 
evangelical  religion  in  the  past ;  the  people  have  allied  them- 
selves with  it;  but  the  priest  has  generally  been  dead  against 
it.  And  therefore,  my  dear  friends,  trust  our  gracious 
Queen,  as  represented  by  her  councils,  if  you  like ;  trust 
even  the  House  of  Commons,  if  you  like ;  trust  the  people, 
if  you  like ;  but  do  not  trust  a  convocation  of  priests,  for, 
depend  upon  it,  their  object  is  to  lay  hold  of  the  conscience, 
and  through  the  conscience  to  tyrannize  over  the  freedom 
of  Christian  men. 

These  Pharisees,  when  they  saw  the  people  recognizing 
the  stamp  of  miraculous  power,  and  being  unable  themselves 
to  resist  the  impression  of  the  miracles  that  Jesus  wrought, 
said,  "  Well,  we  admit  they  are  miracles :  it  is  plain  we  can- 
not resist   the   fact   any   more.     Jesus   is   doing   miracles. 


MATTHEW  XII.  105 

There  is  no  doubt  of  it.  Then  how  shall  we  explain  them  ?  " 
Here  was  indicated  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
that  in  the  face  of  light,  and  in  the  face  of  conviction,  they 
said,  "  The  miracles  are  done  by  Satanic  power."  Now  the 
evidence  of  a  miracle  not  being  done  by  Satanic  power  is,  that 
it  has  goodness  in  it  as  well  as  poAver ;  whereas  a  miracle 
done  by  Satanic  power  would  have  power  in  it,  but  malignity 
in  it  also.  In  the  miracles  of  Jesus  all  was  goodness  ;  and 
the  goodness  and  the  greatness  were  so  conspicuous,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  conclude  that  they  were  any  thing  but 
divine.  The  Pharisees  said,  in  spite  of  their  own  convic- 
tions, they  were  from  Satan. 

But  mark  how  Jesus  answered.  There  was  no  exaspera- 
tion, no  wrathful  explosion  of  passion ;  he  answered,  as  the 
prophet  said  he  would,  without  striving.  He  said,  knowing 
their  thoughts  as  well  as  their  words,  "  This  is  impossible, 
on  this  ground.  Every  kingdom  divided  against  itself  is 
brought  to  desolation.  If  I  am  one  of  Satan's  agents  break- 
ing up  Satan's  kingdom,  then  Satan's  kingdom  is  divided 
against  itself,  and  must  come  to  nought.  If  Satan  cast  out 
Satan,"  (and  there  is  a  tinge  of  something  like  satire  almost 
in  that  expression,)  "  he  is  divided  against  himself;  how 
shall  then  his  kingdom  stand  ?  But  I  will  put  this  to  you. 
If  I  by  Satan  cast  out  Satan,  your  pupils  pretend  to  do  the 
same ;  how  then  do  they  cast  out  devils  ?  Tell  me  that." 
And  then  he  says,  "  Take  another  illustration.  How  can 
one  enter  into  a  strong  man's  house,  and  spoil  his  goods,  ex- 
cept he  first  bind  the  strong  man?  How  can  I  enter  into 
Satan's  house,  drive  out  the  evil  spirit  that  was  within  it, 
and  make  the  possessed  happy  and  healthy,  unless  I  have 
first  mastered  Satan  ?  Your  reasoning  is  illogical,  it  is  ab- 
surd. The  fact  is,  he  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me  ;  and 
he  that  gathereth  not  with  me  scattereth  abroad.  I  am  not 
with  Satan ;  Satan  is  clearly  not  with  me ;  we  are  therefore 
antagonists :  it  is  the  woman's  seed  bruising  the  serpent's 
head."- 


106  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

In  awfully  solemn  terms  he  unveils  the  sin  of  this :  "  All 
manner  of  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men :  but  the 
blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  forgiven 
unto  men."  Now  in  that  case  it  was  in  the  face  of  light 
and  conviction  saying  that  these  miracles  were  done  by  Sa- 
tanic power  —  that  was  the  special  sin  then.  You  ask,  Is 
it  possible  to  commit  that  sin  now  ?  I  answer,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve there  is  any  one  individual  sin  that  can  be  specifically 
so  called.  What  I  understand  by  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit, 
is  a  lifetime  of  resistance  to  the  light  and  truth  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ.  I  understand  by  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
resisting  the  claims  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  evidence  of  truth, 
and  doing  it,  too,  in  the  face  of  conviction  that  you  cannot 
smother,  for  the  sake  of  a  convenience  that  you  are  anxious 
to  follow  out  and  enjoy.  And  if  this  be  persisted  in  through 
life,  then,  like  Pharaoh,  your  heart  becomes  hardened,  and 
you  treasure  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath. 

He  adds,  "  A  good  tree  must  have  good  fruit,  and  a  bad 
tree  bad  fruit ;  and  therefore,  it  is  impossible  that  good  fruits 
such  as  I  have  brought  forth  can  come  from  a  bad  tree :  the 
miracles  must  be  from  above,  and  not  from  below." 

Afterwards  he  spoke  to  them  in  awful  language  :  "  O  gen- 
eration of  vipers,  how  can  ye,  being  evil,  speak  good  things  ?  '* 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  only  instance  in  which  our  Lord 
speaks  in  language  of  strong  reprobation,  using  very  severe 
language,  is  in  the  case  of  the  Pharisees.  He  said  of  the 
poor  woman  caught  in  sin,  "  He  that  is  without  sin  cast  the 
first  stone  ;  "  and  to  her  "  Go,  and  sin  no  more."  On  poor 
Peter  w^io  denied  him,  he  looked,  and  Peter  went  out,  and 
wept  bitterly.  But  when  he  speaks  to  the  Pharisees,  it  is 
in  language  of  strong  reprobation.  I  do  believe  that  of  all 
sins  hypocrisy  is  the  worst  —  seeking  one's  ends  under  the 
covert  of  religion,  doing  the  devil's  work  under  the  pretence 
of  subserving  God's  glory — that  is  of  all  sins,  it  seems  tc^ 
me,  the  most  insufferable.      Hence  our    Lord  calls  them 


MATTHEW    XII.  107 

"  vipers."  Like  the  cobra  capella,  which  first  bites,  and 
then  leaves,  as  the  death  of  a  recent  unhappy  victim  at  the 
Zoological  Gardens  too  well  attests,  a  poison  behind  that 
brings  the  body  to  the  grave ;  so  these  Pharisees  first  injured, 
and  then  injected  into  the  wound  that  they  had  made  by 
their  Avickedness  the  poison  of  deadly  doctrine  that  destroj-^s 
the  soul  forever. 

Then  he  says,  "That  every  idle  word  that  men  shall 
speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment." "  Idle  word,"  is  perhaps  not  the  right  translation. 
The  Greek  words  are,  (yrjua  upybv,  the  strict  translation  of 
which  is,  "  a  word  without  a  work ; "  that  is,  a  word  with- 
out any  meaning,  end,  or  object.  It  would  seem  to  imply 
rash,  profane,  unjustifiable  exclamations  ;  and  it  is  meant  to 
teach  us  that  when  we  speak,  we  should  speak  for  some  use. 
A  person  may  laugh  for  his  pleasure ;  he  may  speak  a 
clever,  bright,  or  witty  thing  for  the  momentary  enjoyment 
of  himself  and  others  that  are  about  him ;  and  that  is  not 
sinful.  The  expression  here  implies  speaking  or  relating 
what  one  knows  not  to  be  true,  speaking  without  any  end  or 
object,  however  trivial,  wasting  time,  doing  no  good,  and 
peradventure  doing  direct  evil. 

Then  some  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  asked  for  a 
sign  ;  and  he  said,  "  No  sign  shall  be  given  you,  but  one,  the 
sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah."  What  was  that?  "Just  as 
he  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  whale's  belly,"  — 
and  this  shows  that  was  a  literal  transaction,  — "  so  the 
Son  of  man  shall  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
heart  of  the  earth,"  that  is,  buried ;  and  then  he  shall  rise 
again.  And  he  teaches  them  this,  that  "  the  men  of  Nine- 
veh shall  rise  in  judgment  with  this  generation,  and  shall 
condemn  it;  because  they  repented  at  the  preaching  of 
Jonah ;  and,  behold,  a  greater  than  Jonah  is  here  ;  and  ye 
repent  not.  Sheba's  queen,  again,  shall  rise  in  judgment 
against  you  ;  for  she  came  miles,  at  a  great  sacrifice  and  at 


108  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

a  large  expense,  to  hear  Solomon ;  and  you  do  not  care  for 
hearing  a  greater  than  Solomon  ;  on  the  contrary,  you  shut 
your  ears,  misconstrue  his  sentiments,  and  misinterpret  his 
miracles." 

Then  he  says,  "  You  are  exactly  like  the  man  out  of 
whom  the  evil  spirit  was  cast,  and  of  whom  no  better  took 
possession,  and  whose  last  estate  was  worse  than  the  first." 
That  is,  drive  Popery  out  of  a  man's  mind  without  giving 
him  Christianity,  and  you  only  make  him  seven  times  worse. 
Never  take  away  from  a  man  what  he  has,  without  trying 
to  give  him  something  better  in  its  stead.  Do  not  drive 
out  the  evil  spirit,  without  showing  him  how  his  heart  can 
become  the  sacred  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  himself. 

And  then,  others  came  and  said,  "Behold,  thy  mother 
and  thy  brethren  stand  without,  desiring  to  speak  with 
thee ; "  as  much  as  to  say,  they  have  a  claim  upon  you : 
"But  he  answered  and  said  unto  them,"  —  and  here  is  a 
prophetic  rebuke  to  Mariolatry,  that  is,  the  worship  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  —  "Who  is  my  mother?  and  who  are  my 
brethren  ?  "  not  implying  any  irreverence  ;  but  arresting  a 
rising  Papal  eiTor :  yoii  will  recollect  that  when  Jesus 
began  his  ministry  at  thirty  years  of  age,  his  mother  and 
his  brethren  sunk  away  in  the  shadow ;  they  were  not 
allowed  to  take  part  in  it.  Mary  was  at  Cana  of  Galilee, 
and  Jesus  rebuked  her  interference  with  his  miracle  there. 
He  now  was  prosecuting  his  ministry ;  and  when  they  said, 
"  Thy  mother  and  thy  brethren  stand  without,  desiring  to 
speak  with  thee,"  he  said,  "  Who  is  my  mother  ?  and  who 
are  my  brethren  ?  And  he  stretched  forth  his  hand  toward 
his  disciples,  and  said,  Behold  my  mother  and  my  breth- 
ren ! "  All  natural  ties  are  lost  in  diviner  ones.  "  That 
which  binds  me  to  Mary,  and  Mary  to  me,  is  not  so  strong 
as  that  which  binds  the  branch  to  the  vine,  the  superstruc- 
ture to  the  rock :  for  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  as  near  to  me  as  my 


MATTHEW   XII.  109 

brother,  and  as  dear  to  me  as  my  mother."  How  absurd, 
therefore,  to  say  that  Mary,  because  she  had  privilege,  de- 
serves to  be  worshipped  as  the  Queen  of  heaven  ! 


Note. — Bengel  maintains,  on  the  commonly  received  interpreta- 
tion of  aa/3.  devrepoTrpurov,  Luke  vi.  I,  that  1  Sam.  xxi.  was  the  Les- 
son for  the  day.  But  the  Jewish  Calendar  of  Lessons  cannot  be 
shown  to  have  existed,  in  the  form  Avhich  we  now  have,  in  the  time  of 
the  Gospel  history. 

See  this  teaching  of  the  Lord  illustrated  and  expounded  in  apostolic 
practice  and  injunctions,  Eom.  xiv.  4,  5,  17  ;  Col.  ii.  16,  17. 

Our  Lord  does  no  outward  act :  the  healing  is  performed  without 
even  a  word  of  command.  The  stretching  forth  the  hand  was  to 
prove  its  soundness,  which  the  Divine  power  wrought  in  the  act  of 
stretching  it  forth.  Thus  his  enemies  were  disappointed,  having  no 
legal  ground  against  him. 

The  diflSculty  has  arisen  mainly  from  forgetting  that  mii-acles,  as 
such,  are  no  test  of  truth,  but  have  been  permitted  to,  and  prophesied 
of,  false  religion  and  teachers.  —  See  Exodus  vii.  1-5. 

[43.]  This  important  parable,  in  the  similitude  itself,  sets  forth  t(f 
us  an  evil  spirit  driven  out  from  a  man,  wandering  in  his  misery  and 
restlessness,  through  desert  places,  and  haunts  of  evil  spirits  (see  Is. 
xiii.  21,  22;  xxxiv.  14) ;  and  at  last  determining  on  a  return  to  his 
former  victim,  whom  he  finds  so  prepai-ed  for  his  purposes,  that  he 
associates  with  himself  seven  other  fiends,  by  whom  the  wretched 
man  being  possessed,  ends  miserably..  In  its  interpretation  we  may 
retrace  three  distinct  references,  each  full  of  weighty  instruction. 
(1.)  The  direct  application  of  the  parable  is  to  the  Jewish  people,  and 
the  parallel  runs  thus :  —  The  old  demon  of  idolatry  brought  down  on 
the  Jews  the  Baby  onish  Captivity,  and  was  cast  out  by  it.  They  did 
not,  after  their  return,  fall  into  it  again,  but  rather  endured  persecu- 
tion, as  under  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  The  emptying,  sweeping,  and 
garnishing,  may  be  traced  in  the  growth  of  Pharisaic  hypocrisy  and 
the  Rabbinical  schools  between  the  return  and  the  coming  of  our 
Lord.  The  repossession  by  the  one,  and  accession  of  seven  other 
spirits  more  malicious  {TTovrjporepa)  than  the  first,  hardly  needs  ex- 
planation. The  desperate  infatuation  of  the  Jews  after  our  Lord's 
ascension,  their  bitter  hostility  to  his  church,  their  miserable  end  as  a 
people,  are  known  to  all.  Chrysostom,  who  gives  in  the  main  this 
10 


110  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

interpretation,  notices  their  continued  infotuation  in  his  own  day,  and 
instances  their  joining  in  the  impieties  of  Julian.  (2.)  Strikingly- 
parallel  with  this  runs  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  Not  long 
after  the  apostolic  times,  the  golden  calves  of  idolatry  were  set  up  by 
the  Church  of  Rome.  What  the  effect  of  the  Captivity  was  to  the 
Jews,  that  of  the  Reformation  has  been  to  Christendom.  The  first 
evil  spirit  has  been  cast  out ;  but  by  the  growth  of  hypocrisy,  secular- 
ity,  and  rationalism,  the  house  has  become  empty,  swept,  and  gar- 
nished ;  swept  and  garnished  by  the  decencies  of  civilization  and  dis- 
coveries of  secular  knowledge,  but  empty  of  living  and  earnest  faith. 
And  he  must  read  prophecy  but  ill  who  does  not  see  under  all  these 
seeming  improvements  the  preparation  for  the  final  development  of 
the  man  of  sin,  the  great  repossession,  when  idolatry  and  the  seven 
TTvevfiaTU  TTOvTjpoTepa  shall  bring  the  outward  frame  of  so-called  Chris- 
tendom to  a  fearful  end.  (3.)  Another  important  fulfilment  of  the 
prophetic  parable  may  be  found  in  the  histories  of  individuals.  By 
religious  education  or  impressions,  the  devil  has  been  cast  out  of  a 
man  ;  but  how  often  do  the  religious  lives  of  men  spend  themselves  in 
the  sweeping  and  garnishing,  (see  Luke  xi.  39,  40,)  in  formality  and 
hypocrisy,  till  utter  emptiness  of  real  faith  and  spirituality  has  pre- 
pared them  for  that  second  fearful  invasion  of  the  evil  one  which 
is  indeed  worse  than  the  first.  (See  Heb.  vi.  4,  6 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  20-22.)  — 
Alford. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

MTTHS,      FABLES,     ALLEGORIES,  AND     PARABLES —  THE     ANCIENT 

TEACHER THE      SEEDSMAN      OF     HEAVEN VARIOUS      SOILS  — 

VARIED     HARVESTS  —  TARES  AND     WHEAT  —  MUSTARD     SEED  — 
LEAVEN  —  HOME   RENOWN. 

There  are  five  modes  of  instruction  which  have  been 
used  as  vehicles  of  practical  and  moral  training  in  the  his- 
tory of  mankind,  namely,  what  is  called  the  Myth,  the 
foundation  of  Mythology,  —  the  Proverb,  familiar  to  us 
all,  —  the  Fable,  which  we  all  also  well  know,  —  what  is 
called  the  Allegory, —  and  lastly,  the  Parable,  some  beauti- 
ful and  eloquent  specimens  of  which  we  have  in  the  inter- 
esting chapter  we  have  now  read. 

The  parable  is  distinguished  from  the  myth,  which  is  the 
foundation  of  mythology,  "meaning  the  science,  or  the  prac- 
tice of  tales  and  traditions  which  are  not  true,  because  what 
is  called  a  myth  is  told  as  truth,  and  pretends  to  be  truth, 
which  the  parable  does  not.  Again,  the  proverb  is  rather 
the  condensed  wisdom  that  flows  naturally  and  beautifully 
from  a  narrative  that  has  been  told,  or  an  experience  re- 
corded. The  fable,  strictly  so  called,  is  the  mere  illustra- 
tion of  worldly  prudence  :  ^sop's  Fables  are  instances  of 
it.  The  allegory,  again,  is  an  imaginary  person,  —  the  per- 
sonation of  a  virtue  put  in  the  shoes  of  a  real  person,  and 
the  story  told  respecting  the  imaginary  person  as  if  he  were 
an  actual  and  a  living  being  :  such  is  Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  one  of  the  most  striking  and  impressive  of  them 
all.     Then,  lastly,  there  is  what  is  contained  in  this  chap- 


112  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

ter,  —  the  parable,  —  which  is  a  serious  narrative,  within 
the  limits  of  probability,  of  a  course  of  action  which  indi- 
cates or  leads  to  the  inculcation  of  a  moral  end.  It  is  a 
story  got  up,  not  real ;  but  obviously  a  story  constructed, 
not  actual,  because  not  designed  to  mislead ;  anS  by  its  re- 
sults it  teaches  some  great  and  instructive  lesson.  It  is  the 
cup  that  contains  a  precious  balm ;  it  is  the  outward  vehicle 
of  an  inner,  instructive,  spiritual,  and  moral  truth. 

We  have  in  this  chapter  parables  variously  stated,  and  in 
various  forms  of  beauty,  each  presenting  some  side  of  man- 
ifold truth,  and  so  revealing  the  truth  at  one  time  at  one 
angle,  or  another  time  at  another  angle  ;  in  one  in  one  light, 
in  another  in  another  light ;  so  fully  and  so  universally,  that 
no  man,  whatever  be  his  taste,  his  habits,  his  idiosyncracy, 
or  his  want  of  learning,  can  easily  fail  to  understand  the 
truth  as  it  is  thus  variously,  graphically,  and  intelligently 
conveyed. 

We  read  in  this  chapter,  that  "  Jesus  went  out  of  the 
house,  and  sat  by  the  seaside."  In  ancient  times  the  teach- 
er sat,  and  the  people  stood ;  his  the  position  of  dignity, 
theirs  the  attitude  of  attentive  and  anxious  listeners.  But 
the  custom  is  now  changed,  —  the  hearer  sits  and  the 
speaker  stands.  In  either  case  it  is  but  form,  the  substance 
remains.  Ceremonies  change  and  flit  like  clouds  in  the 
sky ;  the  great  truths  that  are  behind  and  beyond  them,  re- 
main fixed  like  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever. 

We  read  next  that  "  Great  multitudes  were  gathered  to- 
gether unto  him."  Jesus  so  preached  that  the  multitudes 
came  to  hear,  even  when  they  were  not  profitably  or  sav- 
ingly taught.  There  is  something  in  an  earnest  man  speak- 
ing earnest  truths,  that  will  ever  command  an  audience  of 
some  kind ;  and  when  these  truths  teach  the  deepest,  most 
solemn  and  weighty  responsibilities  of  man,  there  will  be 
found  anxious  inquirers  seeking  to  know  what  is  duty,  and 
praying  that  they  may  have  grace  and  strength  from  on 


MATTHEW    XIII.  113 

high  manfully  to  pursue  it.  You  maj  depend  upon  it, 
where  there  is  nobody  to  hear  a  preacher,  it  must  be  mainly 
the  preacher's  fault.  I  do  not  mean  that  faithfulness  will 
not  repel  some,  but  I  am  sure  that  there  is  such  an  intense 
and  stirring  interest  in  the  great  truths  of  Christianity,  that 
if  it  be  known  that  somewhere  they  are  unfolded  fully, 
there  will  be  at  least  a  handful  to  listen,  to  be  profited,  and 
live. 

The  first  parable  that  Jesus  spoke  was  the  parable  of  the 
sower,  the  shell  of  which  he  first  gives  at  length,  and  the 
kernel  of  which  he  afterwards  gives,  by  breaking  the  shell. 
The  seed  is   the  word  written,  or  word  providential.     He 
says  that  "  one  heareth  the  word  of  the  kingdom,  and  un- 
derstandeth   it  not,"   literally,    "apprehends  it  not."     You 
know  the  difference.     I  speak  to  you   sometimes  a  truth, 
which,  in  populai- phraseology,  goes  in  at  one  ear  and  out  at 
the  other.     That  is  just  the  nineteenth  century  mode  of  ex- 
pressing this  statement,  "  hearing  the  word  and  apprehend- 
ing it  not."     But  you  will  hear  me  speak  another  truth  that 
will  so  cling  to  your  heart,  your  conscience,  and  your  soul, 
'  that  you  cannot  get  rid  of  it  all  the  week  long.    That  is  ap- 
prehending the  truth.     The  word  "understand,"  therefore, 
might  be  better  translated  "apprehend,"  for  it  means  just  as 
you  put  forth  the  hand  and  grasp  a  thing,  in  opposition  to 
any  thing  hitting  the  hand,  and  rebounding  at  the  same  angle 
at  which  it  struck.     Now,  our  Lord  says  that  such  a  one, 
who  fails  to  apprehend  the  truth,  finds  that  "  the  wicked  one 
(6  TTovrjpb^)  Cometh  and  catcheth  away  that  which  was  sown  in 
his  heart."    «  Pie  that  was  sown  "  is  the  literal  rendering,  i.  e. 
seed  and  soil  are  morally  one.    He  picks  it  up.    It  has  not  gone 
into  the  soil  of  the  heart ;  it  lies  upon  the  hard  trodden  sur- 
face, and  Satan  comes  instantly  and  picks  up  the  loose  sur- 
face  seed,   or  "  catcheth   it   away."      "  This   is   he   which 
received  seed  by  the  way-side."     You  know  what  the  way- 
side is  —  the  pave,  the  pavement,  beaten  hard  by  the  trafiic 
10* 


114  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

of  many  feet.  Let  a  seed  fall  upon  it,  it  does  not  enter  it, 
but  lies  upon  the  hard  surface,  and  it  must,  therefore,  either 
be  crushed  by  the  next  foot,  or  it  may  be  picked  up  by  the 
birds  of  the  air,  who  come  and  catch  it  away.  Now,  let 
every  one  know  this ;  those  who  come  to  the  house  of  God 
to  hear  the  preacher,  not  the  message,  —  or  to  be  pleased 
with  a  man,  not  to  be  impressed  with  a  truth,  are  the  per- 
sons who  receive  the  seed  by  the  way-side.  They,  too,  who 
come  to  the  sanctuary,  and  whose  hearts  are  beaten  hard  by 
the  traffic  of  mammon's  feet,  —  who  are  so  absorbed  in  this 
world,  that  they  cannot  give  up  the  Sunday  for  the  service 
of  the  world  to  come,  they  also  receive  the  seed  —  if  they 
receive  any  —  by  the  way-side. 

In  the  next  place,  "  he  that  received  the  seed  into  stony 
places,  the  same  is  he  that  heareth  the  word,  and  anon  with 
joy  receiveth  it,  yet  hath  he  no  root  in  himself,  but  dureth 
for  a  while ;  for  when  tribulation  or  persecution  ariseth  be- 
cause of  the  word,  by  and  by  he  is  offended."  This  is  a 
second  class ;  those  persons  who  have  a  little  of  the  soil  of 
sensitive,  feeling,  susceptible  humanity  in  their  hearts,  but 
mixed  with  it  a  great  deal  of  this  world,  likened  here  to 
stone  and  earth  mixed  together,  a  very  unmanageable  and 
unproductive  soil.  They  are  they  who  receive  the  word ; 
the  little  susceptibility  that  they  have  receives  it  with  great 
delight,  and  they  seem  to  be  Christians  gladdened  with  the 
glad  sound.  They  go  out  into  the  world,  where  the  seed 
should  still  grow  —  if  it  has  a  root  —  and  they  find  that 
when  trouble  comes,  or  persecution,  —  when  the  storms 
beat  upon  it,  or  when  the  sunshine  burns  and  scorches  it, 
then,  because  it  has  but  a  little  hold,  and  no  deep  root,  it 
withers  in  the  sunshine,  or  falls  before  the  blast,  and  there  is 
no  good  produced  by  it. 

Then,  "  He  that  received  seed  among  the  thorns  is  he 
that  heareth  the  word ;  and  the  care  of  this  world,  and  the 
deceitfulness  of  riches,  choke  the   word,  and  he  becometb 


MATTHEW    XIII.  115 

unfruitful."  It  grows  up  in  his  case,  advances  to  a  state  of 
maturity,  but  thorns  grow  up  faster  than  it,  and  choke  it. 
It  is  a  sad  fact,  a  transmission  from  the  fall  —  that  in  a  corn- 
field, if  left  alone,  the  thorns  will  choke  the  good  seed.  So 
here,  the  thorns  of  time,  the  pomp  and  vanity  of  the  world, 
the  anxiety  to  be  rich,  to  excel,  to  get  preeminence,  —  A  to 
be  greater  than  B,  and  B  to  be  greater  than  C,  and  D  to  be 
richer  than  them  all,  —  these  are  the  things  that  so  absorb 
the  soul,  that  they  choke  the  good  seed.  It  is  not  wrong  to 
be  in  the  world,  it  is  not  sinful  to  attend  to  the  world's  du- 
ties, it  is  not  wrong  to  discharge  the  responsibilities  of  your 
position,  and  to  live  as  that  position  prescribes,  and  as  be- 
comes you  ;  but  it  is  sinful  to  let  these  things  take  so  great 
a  hold  that  they  choke  the  better  things  that  ought  alone  to 
be  paramount  and  supreme. 

"  But  he  that  received  seed  into  the  good  ground  is  he 
that  first  heareth  the  word  "  —  listens  to  a  preached  Gospel, 
"  and  secondly,  understandeth  it  "  —  apprehends  it,  lays  hold 
of  it  —  "  which  also  beareth  fruit,  and  bringeth  forth,  some 
an  hundred-fold,  some  sixty,  some  thirty."  How  sad  !  four 
persons  listen  in  these  walls,  one  person  alone  is  benefited 
and  blessed.  How  sad !  four  classes  are  given,  all  exposed 
to  the  same  influence,  but  only  one  seems  to  derive  any 
benefit.  I  would  not  dare  to  say  that  this  is  the  ratio  always 
and  everywhere  ;  but  the  ratio  is  given  here,  that  none  may 
presume,  and  yet  that  none  may  despair.  But  you  will 
notice  that  there  is  in  all  this  progression.  In  the  first,  the 
seed  is  choked  at  the  outset ;  in  the  second,  it  springs  up ; 
in  the  third,  it  arrives  at  maturity ;  in  the  fourth,  it  bears 
fruit.  In  the  first  case,  the  person  understands  not  the 
word ;  in  the  second,  he  understands  it  at  first,  and  after- 
wards falls  ;  in  the  third,  he  understands  it,  but  is  unfruitful ; 
in  the  fourth,  he  understands  it,  and  sets  out  to  practise  it. 
The  four  interlace  with  each  other.  There  must  be  the  first, 
second,  and  third  states  without  the  defects  realized  by  the 


116  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

believer,  who  perseveres  in  spite  of  each  difficulty,  before 
he  enters  on  the  fourth,  and  understands  the  Word,  and 
brings  forth  much  fruit  to  the  honor  and  glory  of  God. 
The  Lord  gives  another  parable.  I  have  elsewhere  ex- 
*  plained  to  you  that  the  expression,  "  the  keys  of  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,"  denotes  the  keys  of  the  visible  church  ;  and 
therefore  I  can  see  no  objection  to  grant  the  interpretation 
that  a  minister  does  hold  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
that  he  does  admit  into  the  visible  church.  But  when  I 
accept  this,  and  he  has  gone  so  far,  what  is  the  value  of  it  ? 
The  visible  church  has  in  it  tares  as  well  as  wheat,  bad 
fishes  as  well  as  good  ;  and  to  be  able  to  admit  into  it  is  to 
admit  to  privilege,  but  not  necessarily  to  that  upper  Church, 
where  the  wheat  only  is,  and  where  the  good  only  live. 
This  "  kingdom  of  heaven  "  is  likened,  in  the  next  place, 
to  "  a  man  which  sowed  good  seed  in  his  field," — this  is 
another  aspect  or  phase  of  the  same  truth,  —  "  but  while 
men  slept  his  enemy  came  and  sowed  tares  among  the 
wheat."  Now  in  the  explanation  of  this  parable  we  are  told 
that  Christ  is  the  Sower,  and  that  the  wicked  one  came,  and 
sowed  the  tares.  All  that  is  good  is  from  God ;  all  that  is 
evil  is  from  the  devil.  Wherever  the  tare  came  from, 
Christ  sowed  it  not.  He  never  made  a  wicked  man ;  he 
never  made  sin.  Scripture  is  explicit  upon  these  points.  It 
clearly  and  frequently  states  that  Christ  sowed  nothing  but 
good  seed.  He  made  man  perfect  and  holy ;  and  if  sin  has 
crept  into  the  world,  it  was  the  devil  who  introduced  it ;  it 
was  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Well,  "  the  servants  of  the 
householder  came,  and  said,  Whence  did  the  tares  come  ?  " 
What  is  the  origin  of  evil  ?  Why  is  sin  admitted  into  the 
world  ?  The  answer  of  the  householder  is,  "  I  did  not  do 
this:  an  enemy  hath  done  it."  Well,  then  the  servants, 
naturally  feeling  indignation  that  so  beautiful  a  field  should 
be  marred  by  so  pestilential  an  admixture,  said,  in  the  first 
burst  of  passion,  "  Wilt  thou  then   that  we  go  and  gather 


MATTHEW   Xlir.  117 

them  up !  "  That  is  man's  rashness.  These  are  those  who 
think  they  can  get  a  perfect  church  upon  earth,  and  who  set 
themselves  to  make  a  separation  now,  which  is  only  to  be 
made  by  the  Master  hereafter.  Our  blessed  Lord  said, 
"  Nay ;  lest,  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also 
the  wheat  with  them."  Now  we  might  apply  all  this  para- 
•ble  to  doctrines.  I  have  heard  the  argument  repeatedly 
used  by  the  champions  of  the  Romanist  side,  "  If  the  wor- 
ship of  saints,  tradition,  transubstantiation,  be  an  error,  then 
show  when  it  was  introduced ;  and  if  you  will  specify  the 
time,  then  we  will  believe  that  it  is  false."  Now,  I  answer, 
Nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  show  exactly  when  an 
error  was  introduced  into  the  Church.  The  tares  were  not 
sown  in  the  bright  noonday,  they  were  sown  in  the  night, 
and  in  darkness ;  we  cannot  say  whether  in  the  first  watch, 
the  second,  the  third,  or  the  fourth.  But  the  best  way  is, 
not  to  make  it  a  question  of  chronology,  but  a  question  of 
fact.  The  tare  does  not  become  wheat,  because  I  cannot 
show  when  it  was  sown  ;  nor  does  the  wheat  become  tares, 
because  I  cannot  show  when  it  was  sown.  Tares  are  tares 
by  their  own  nature,  at  whatever  hour  they  were  sown  ;  and 
wheat  is  wheat  by  its  own  intrinsic  character,  at  whatever 
hour  it  was  sown.  And,  therefore,  to  say  that  this  must  be 
true  because  we  cannot  show  when  it  was  introduced,  is 
false  reasoning.  The  answer  is,  the  enemy  sowed  it  in  the 
night-time,  and  tare,  not  wheat,  it  must  be  :  "  let  both  grow 
till  the  harvest."  My  dear  friends,  I  believe,  the  less  of 
what  is  called  ecclesiastical  separation  there  is  the  better.  A 
minister's  great  province  is  to  preach,  not  to  excommuni- 
cate. Leave  to  the  Church  of  Rome  the  monopoly  of 
anathemas ;  let  ours  be  the  privilege  of  pronouncing  bene- 
dictions. You  may  depend  upon  it,  that  if  the  pulpit 
speak  as  the  pulpit  should,  the  pews  will  feel  more  as  pews 
should.  It  is  not  mechanical  separation,  but  discriminating 
preaching,  that  shows  who  are  wheat,  and  who  are  tares. 


118  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

He  then  ga^e  them  another  parable.  "  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard-seed."  Now,  we  had 
in  the  first  the  effects  of  the  Gospel  preached  ;  we  had,  in 
the  second,  the  admixture  by  Satan  of  tares  with  the  truths 
preached,  or  the  seed  sown ;  we  have,  in  the  third,  the  pro- 
gressive nature  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  It  is  like  a  grain 
of  mustard-seed,  a  very  small  plant  in  our  country,  but. 
which  grows  to  a  very  great  size  in  the  East,  and  becomes, 
from  being  an  herb,  a  positive  tree,  and  the  birds  of  the  air 
find  shelter  under  it.  So  it  is  with  the  Gospel.  It  began 
with  the  manger  at  Bethlehem;  it  increased  at  Pentecost  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  souls  ;  it  soon  became  six  thousand; 
it  has  since  increased  to  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands ;  and  it  will  be  found  at  the  day  of  judgment  to 
include  under  its  banner  a  "multitude  that  no  man  can 
number." 

Having  thus  noticed  its  outer  growth,  by  comparing  it  to 
a  mustard-seed,  he  then  shows  its  inner  growth,  by  the  par- 
able of  the  leaven.  Some  have  said  that  leaven  is  always 
used  in  Scripture  in  a  bad  sense ;  but  our  Lord  uses  it 
here,  not  as  if  leaven  were  a  symbol  of  grace,  but  because 
certain  peculiarities  of  leaven  are  so,  and  then  he  makes 
these  the  symbol  of  the  inner  advancement  of  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Leaven  assimilates,  penetrates,  turns  all  external 
to  itself  into  its  own  nature,  or  touches  and  transmutes  it  by 
contact.  So  it  is  with  grace.  It  is  a  progressive  and  ad- 
vancing thing,  that  grows  until  the  whole  mass  is  assimilated 
to  it.  Then  we  have  Christ's  explanation  of  the  parable  of 
the  tares,  which  is  most  beautiful,  and  substantially  the 
same  as  I  have  just  given  you. 

We  have,  at  the  close  of  this  chapter,  the  account  of  the 
objections  made  by  those  who  were  astonished  at  his  teach- 
ing. One  does  not  wonder  that  they  were  astonished. 
These  parables  are  so  exquisitely  beautiful,  and  eveiy  clause 
so  suggestive  of  meaning,  moral  and  instructive,  that  they 


matthp:w  XIII.  119 

must  have  felt  that,  after  the  dry  and  dull  teaching  of  the 
scribes,  such  teaching  as  this  was  almost  too  stirring  to  be 
borne.  Why,  if  you  were  to  learn  for  a  time  from  a 
Romish  priest  preaching  all  the  superstitions  of  his  church, 
and  then  to  pass  from  him  to  a  faithful  minister  preaching 
vital  and  living  Christianity,  the  transition  would  be  just 
like  that  from  the  preaching  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
speaking  of  forms,  phylacteries,  traditions,  to  the  living 
teaching  of  the  Son  of  God. 

They  then  said,  "  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son  ?  "  —  the 
reputed  son  of  Joseph  —  "  is  not  his  mother  called  Mary  ?  " 
Well,  what  worse  should  that  make  him  ?  Suppose  that  he 
were  so,  we  must  not  judge  of  a  man's  doctrine  by  his 
genealogy,  but  by  the  grounds  which  he  adduces  in  order  to 
establish  it.  But  these  foolish  men  said,  "It  cannot  be 
true,  because  he  is  the  son  of  Mary."  How  absurd  is  that  !^ 
The  man  is  the  man  whatever  be  his  genealogy ;  and  he  is 
to  be  judged  by  the  grounds  of  his  statement,  not  by  his 
descent,  however  mean,  or  great,  or  illustrious.  A  lie  is  a 
lie  when  a  nobleman  speaks  it ;  and  truth  is  truth  when  a 
beggar  declares  it.  It  is  not  the  man  that  makes  the 
doctrine ;  it  is  the  doctrine  that  dignifies  and  beautifies  the 
man. 

And  so  again,  they  said,  "Are  not  his  brethren,  James, 
and  Joses,  and  Simon,  and  Judas  ?  "  This  has  led  to  a  very 
great,  and,  I  must  say,  a  very  uninteresting,  though  very 
bitter  controversy,  especially  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 
They  deny  that  Jesus  had  any  brothers  or  sisters  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh ;  and  yet,  while  his  birth  was  totally  distinct 
from  the  birth  of  any,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  there  are 
brothers  of  Jesus,  younger  than  he,  always  spoken  of  in 
connection  with  Mary.  They  are  never  said  to  be  of  the 
number  of  the  Twelve ;  their  names  are  common  Jewish 
names ;  they  are  alluded  to  as  four  persons  well  known ; 
and  they  are  spoken  of  as  the  brothers  of  Jesus,  and  are 


120  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

presumed,  without  at  all  touching  the  peculiarity  of  Him 
who  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  to  be  literally  his  breth- 
ren,—  James,  and  Joses,  and  Simon,  and  Judas.  And  what 
of  this  ?  There  was  not  a  point  where  Jesus  did  not  touch 
our  humanity.  He  is  our  Elder  Brother  —  man  as  we  are, 
and  yet  God  as  God  is.  "  Great  is  the  mystery  of  godli- 
ness, God  manifest  in  the  flesh." 

Jesus  then  stated,  in  answer  to  all  this,  a  well-known 
maxim.  He  did  not  repel  what  they  said,  but  he  replied, 
"  This  illustrates  what  is  so  true  —  A  prophet,"  that  is,  a 
teacher,  "  is  not  without  honor,  save  in  his  own  country." 
How  true  is  that !  The  greatest  man  is  least  recognized  in 
his  own  land.  He  is  first  celebrated,  not  unfrequently,  in  a 
foreign  land,  and  it  is  only  afterwards  that  his  own  land, 
unable  to  deny  his  genius,  recognizes  him.  This  is  partly 
owing  to  the  prepossessions  and  prejudices  of  man,  and 
partly  to  this,  that  every  man  ceases  to  look  great  in  pro- 
portion as  we  know  him.  The  more  we  know  of  man,  the 
more  we  see  traces  that  he  is  born  of  a  woman,  —  that  he 
is  sprung  from  the  dust,  —  that  he  is  compassed  with  frail- 
ties, and  infirmities,  and  sin.  It  needs  distance  to  make 
man  look  great.  God  manifest  in  the  flesh  alone  can  bear 
minute,  microscopic,  penetrating  inspection;  for  He  was 
holy,  harmless,  and  undefiled. 


Note.  —  [12.]  In  this  saying  of  the  Lord  is  summed  up  the  double 
force,  —  the  revealing  and  concealing  properties  of  the  parable.  By  it 
he  who  hath  —  he  who  not  only  hears  with  the  ear,  but  understands 
with  the  heart  —  has  more  given  to  him ;  and  it  is  for  this  main  pur- 
pose undoubtedly  that  the  Lord  spoke  parables,  —  to  be  to  his  Church 
revelations  of  the  truth  and  mysteries  of  his  kingdom.  But  the  pres- 
ent purpose  in  speaking  them,  as  further  explained  below,  was  the 
quality  possessed  by  them,  and  declared  in  the  latter  part  of  this  verse, 
of  hiding  their  meaning  from  the  hardhearted  and  sensual.    By  them 


MATTIIEAV    XIII.  121 

he  who  hath  not  —  in  whom  there  is  no  spark  of  spiritual  desire,  nor 
meekness  to  receive  the  ingrafted  word  —  has  taken  from  liim  even 
that  which  he  hath  ("seemeth  to  have,"  Luke) ;  even  the  poor  con- 
fused notions  of  heavenly  doctrine  which  a  sensual  and  careless  life 
allow  him,  are  further  bewildered  and  darkened  by  this  simple  teach- 
ing, into  the  depths  of  which  he  cannot  penetrate  so  far  as  even  to 
ascertain  that  they  exist. 

[31.]  In  the  general  sense,  the  insignificant  beginnings  of  the  king- 
dom are  set  forth  ;  the  little  babe  cast  in  the  manger  at  Bethlehem  ; 
the  man  of  sorrows  with  no  place  to  lay  his  head ;  the  crucified  One ; 
or  again,  the  hundred  and  twenty  names  who  were  the  seed  of  the 
Church  after  the  Lord  had  ascended :  then  we  have  the  kingdom  of 
God  waxing  onward  and  spreading  its  branches  here  and  there,  and 
different  nations  coming  into  it,  ."  He  must  increase,"  said  the  great 
Forerunner.  We  must  beware,  however,  of  imagining  that  the  out- 
ward church  form  is  this  kingdom  ;  it  has  rather  reversed  the  parable, 
and  is  the  worldly  power  Avaxed  to  a  great  tree,  and  the  churches  tak- 
ing refuge  under  the  shadow  of  it.  It  may  be,  when  not  corrupted  by 
error  and  superstition,  subservient  to  the  growth  of  the  heavenly 
plant;  it  is  at  best  no  more  than  (to  change  the  figure)  the  scaffolding" 
to  aid  the  building,  not  the  building  itself. 


11 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE     baptist's     MARTYRDOM  —  POPULARITY     OF      THE     GOSPEL  — 

FEEDING   FIVE    THOUSAND — MIRACLES  —  THE   STORM   AT    SEA 

FEARS  AND  MISAPPREHENSIONS  —  PETER  SINKING — JESUS  EN- 
TERS THE  SHIP,  AND  THERE  IS  A  CALM  —  NORMAL  AND  AB- 
NORMAL. 

"We  have,  first  of  all,  described  here  one  of  those  sad 
tragedies,  which  are  recorded,  not  only  by  the  inspired  pen 
of  apostles  and  evangelists,  but  are  found  too  often  in  the 
history  of  every  nation,  and  in  the  annals  of  the  wide 
world  itself  —  triumphant  vice,  oppressed  and  martyred 
virtue. 

On  the  birthday  of  Herod,  the  daughter  of  Herodias 
danced  before  him,  and  so  pleased  him,  that  he  gave  a 
promise,  to  please  the  beautiful  but  sensual  danseuse,  which 
nothing  but  omnipotence  could  fulfil,  which  nothing  but 
blasphemy  could  make.  He  made  an  oath  that  he  would 
give  her  whatsover  she  would  demand.  She  did  not  ask  an 
impossible  thing,  but  she  demanded  what  was  perhaps 
worse,  a  cruel  thing,  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist  in  a 
charger.  She  hated  him  because  he  rebuked  her  sins  ;  and 
wherever  a  holy  man  rebukes  the  sins  of  the  guilty,  one  of 
two  things  follows  —  either  repentance  and  gratitude  for  the 
rebuke,  or  resentment  and  persecution  of  the  rebuker. 
The  latter  was  the  alternative  adopted  by  Herodias ;  "  and 
Herod  sent,  and  beheaded  John  in  the  prison." 

We  read  the  beauiiful  incident  that  followed  in  the  12th 
verse :  "And  the  disciples  of  John  came,  and  took  up  the 


MATTHEW    XIV.  123 

body  of  the  beheaded  Baptist,  and  buried  it,  and  went  and 
told  Jesus."  They  did  their  duty  to  the  dead,  —  they 
sought  consolation  from  an  ever-living,  ever-present,  ever- 
willing  Lord.  They  buried  the  body  of  John,  and  they 
went  and  told  the  story  of  their  misfortune  and  their  loss  to 
Him  who  could  either  be  a  substitute  for  their  martyred 
master,  or  give  that  consolation  which  the  world  cannot 
give,  and  cannot  take  away. 

Jesus,  when  he  heard  of  it,  departed  into  a  desert  place, 
and  a  great  multitude  of  people  followed  him.  How  re- 
markable it  is,  that  almost  everywhere  when  Jesus  preached, 
there  was  a  multitude  to  hear.  I  do  not  say  that  there  was 
always  a  multitude  convinced,  converted,  and  saved ;  but  it 
does  seem  from  this  that  wherever  the  Gospel  is  preached 
in  its  purity  with  tolerable  power,  there  will  always  be 
found  people  to  hear  and  listen  to  it.  It  is  true  that  many 
hear  who  are  not  savingly  convinced;  but  there  is  some- 
thing in  the  living  voice,  reasoning  justly  and  earnestly  of 
righteousness  and  temperance  and  judgment,  and  something 
so  lifelike  in  Christianity,  that  these  will  bring  numbers  to 
hear,  some  to  resist,  and  others  to  listen  and  live  for  ever. 

"  When  it  was  evening,  the  disciples  came  to  him,  and 
said,  Send  the  multitude  away,  that  they  may  go  into  the 
villages."  Who  had  most  compassion,  the  disciple,  or  the 
Master  ?  On  every  occasion  we  shall  find  that  the  disciples 
would  rather  that  the  multitude  should  be  dismissed,  or  that 
their  voices  should  be  silenced ;  but  on  all  occasions  Jesus 
was  ever  ready  to  welcome  them,  to  feed  them  when  they 
were  hungry,  and  to  comfort  them  when  they  were  sorrow- 
ful. Better  far  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Master  than  into 
the  hands  of  the  most  feeling  of  his  apostles.  Over  and 
over  again  the  apostles  desired  that  the  multitude,  because 
of  their  clamor  and  importunity,  might  be  dismissed  or 
silenced ;  and  over  and  over  again  Jesus  showed  that,  how 
ever  weary  and  wayworn  with  his  toils,  there  was  no  sor- 


124  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

row  in  the  human  heart  that  had  not  a  resounding  echo  in 
his,  and  that  there  was  no  suffering  in  human  nature  tliat 
had  not  sympathy  from  the  Man  of  sorrows.  "  Jesus  said 
unto  them,  They  need  not  depart ;  give  ye  them  to  eat." 
Then  the  disciples  said,  "  We  have  here  but  live  loaves,  and 
two  fishes.  How  absurd  to  bid  us  feed  five  thousand  with 
these  ! "  They  looked  at  natural  impossibilities  only  — 
they  beheld  their  wants  and  supplies  in  the  light  of  nature, 
and  they  despaired.  But  Jesus  said,  "  Bring  them  hither 
to  me,"  and  they  did  so.  They  did  what  he  bade  them,  be- 
lieving that  he  was  able,  if  he  were  only  willing,  to  feed 
them.  "And  he  commanded  the  multitude  to  sit  down,"  and 
they  did  so.  He  then  took  the  loaves  and  blessed  them, 
and  gave  them  to  the  disciples,  and  they  increased  by  distri- 
bution. He  did  not  first  increase  them,  and  then  distribute 
them;  but  he  made  them  increase  in  the  process  of  distribu- 
tion. Whose  money  is  it  that  grows  fastest  ?  That  of  the 
man  who  gives  most.  The  widow's  cruse  of  oil  and  barrel 
of  meal  increased  as  they  were  drawn  on ;  and  we  shall 
find  still,  in  the  experience  of  us  all,  that  there  is  that  scat- 
tereth  and  yet  increaseth.  The  man  who  hoards  his  money, 
and  withholds  from  the  claims  of  the  needy  that  which  is 
dutiful  and  meet,  does  not  always  find  himself  grow  richer ; 
whereas  the  man  whose  ears  are  open  to  every  appeal,  and 
whose  heart  responds  in  sympathy  to  every  want,  and  who 
gives,  as  the  expression  of  his  feelings,  what  will  clothe  the 
naked  and  fill  the  hungry,  never  finds  that  he  gets  poorer  in 
consequence. 

Now  this  miracle  seems  to  us  indeed  a  miracle ;  but  at 
the  same  time,  when  we  see  the  seed  sown,  and  under  spring 
rains  and  summer  suns  begin  to  grow  up  and  ripen,  in  order 
to  be  made  into  bread,  we  think  there  is  no  miracle.  Yet 
there  is  as  great  a  miracle  every  spring,  as  there  was  in 
multiplying  the  loaves  and  fishes.  The  spring  is  as  great  a 
miracle  as  the  blossoming  of  Aaron's  rod.     But  we  are  so 


MATTHEW    XIV.  125 

accustomed  to  see  the  spring  and  summer,  with  the  seed 
growing  into  the  harvest,  that  we  think  there  is  no  miracle : 
we  are  not  accustomed  to  see  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  feed- 
ing five  thousand,  and  therefore  we  conclude  it  is  a  miracle. 
But  there  is  as  much  power  in  the  one  as  in  the  other. 
Just  in  the  same  manner  do  we  find  the  water  turned  into 
wine.  The  ordinary  process  is,  that  the  vine  shall  grow 
and  bear  blossom,  the  blossom  turn  into  grapes,  and  the 
grapes  be  squeezed,  and  fermented,  and  made  into  wine; 
and  we  think  that  is  a  law  of  nature.  Our  blessed  Lord 
simply  shortened  the  process,  when  he  turned  water  into 
wine ;  yet  there  is  as  great  a  miracle  in  the  long  process  as 
in  the  short  one ;  only  in  the  one  case  we  see  Omnipotence 
visibly  at  work,  in  the  other  we  do  not  see  Omnipotence, 
though  it  is  equally  behind  it.  The  fact  is,  all  nature  is  a 
ceaseless  miracle  ;  all  growth,  reproduction,  and  decay,  are 
the  evidences  of  a  present  God ;  but  what  is  rare  we  pro- 
nounce miraculous,  what  is  usual  we  call  atheistically  a  law 
of  nature :  but  in  the  one,  as  well  as  in  the  other,  God  is ; 
and  without  his  blessing  and  omnipotent  power,  a  blade  of 
grass  cannot  grow,  an  ear  of  wheat  cannot  ripen,  nor  har- 
vest follow  on  the  footsteps  of  spring.  We  breathe  mira- 
cles, we  eat  miracles,  we  are  upheld  every  day  miraculous- 
ly;  and  he  has  a  blind  mind,  or  an  obdurate  conscience, 
who  does  not  see  and  recognize  the  hand  of  his  Father  and 
his  God  in  all. 

The  next  scene  presented  to  us  is  Jesus  constraining  his 
disciples  to  get  into  a  ship.  That  ship,  we  afterwards  read, 
was  tossed  by  the  waves,  under  the  impulse  of  the  wind  in 
a  heavy  storm.  But  you  will  notice  here,  that  Jesus  "  con- 
strained" them  to  go.  We  should  never  go  into  danger 
unsent.  If  duty  bids  us,  let  us  fear  no  peril,  —  let  us  face 
every  danger ;  but  if  there  be  no  duty,  there  is  no  evidence 
of  the  commission  of  our  Lord,  and  therefore  we  have  no 
11* 


126  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

reason  to  expect  his  protection.  He  "  constrained "  them 
to  go. 

When  they  went  into  the  storm  to  be  tossed  by  the  sea 
waves,  Jesus  went  into  a  mountain  alone  to  pray.  Beauti- 
ful thought !  while  we  are  toiling  with  the  storms  of  time, 
Jesus,  on  the  mount  of  glory,  is  interceding  for  us ;  whilst 
we  are  in  peril  on  the  sea  below,  the  blessed  Master  is  en- 
gaged in  prayer  for  us.  This  is  no  picture  of  the  past ;  it 
is  the  experience  and  the  fact  of  the  present. 

"  The  ship,"  we  are  told,  "  was  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
tossed  with  waves :  for  the  wind  was  contrary."  God's  own 
may  be  in  trouble.  And  when  did  Jesus  come  to  release 
them  ?  In  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night.  The  Jews,  at 
this  period,  being  under  the  Roman  domination,  divided  the 
night  into  four  watches.  The  first  began  at  six,  and  ended 
at  nine ;  the  second  began  at  nine,  and  ended  at  twelve  ; 
the  third  began  at  twelve,  and  ended  at  three ;  and  the 
fourth  began  at  three,  and  ended  at  six  in  the  morning. 
About  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  then,  after  they  had  been 
toiling  all  night  against  a  contrary  wind,  Christ  came.  My 
dear  friends,  Christ  may  not  deliver  you  at  the  commence- 
ment of  your  trouble,  or  in  the  middle  of  it ;  but  either  in 
the  first,  second,  third,  or  fourth  watch  he  will  come ;  for  he 
has  said,  "I  will  never  leave  thee;  I  will  never  forsake 
thee." 

When  he  came,  he  said  to  them,  "  Be  of  good  cheer ;  it 
is  I ;  be  not  afraid."  That  wild  wind  that  shrieks  so  sadly, 
and  mingles  with  the  waves,  is,  nevertheless,  my  voice. 
These  waves  that  threaten  you  with  destruction,  are  ambas- 
sadors and  apostles  from  me.  That  trial  which  strikes  you 
dumb  is  sent  by  Christ.  In  all  times  of  your  tribulation, 
in  all  times  of  your  health,  in  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  hear,  ringing  louder  than  the  loud  storm, 
and  musical  as  the  voice  of  Him  we  love,  "It  is  I;  be  not 


MATTHEW    XIV.  127 

afraid."  To  know  that  an  affliction  is  from  Him,  is  to  know 
that  its  issue  will  be  good.  Not  to  be  sure  that  the  affliction 
is  from  Him,  is  indeed  to  be  in  trouble,  and  just  ground  for 
being  alarmed. 

But  when  he  came  to  them  walking  upon  the  waves,  they 
were  afraid,  and  said,  "  It  is  a  spirit."  Now  this  is  human 
nature  still.  Our  consciences  are  always  the  interpreters 
of  providence.  When  a  man  is  living  in  sin,  every  thing 
that  happens  to  him  he  construes  as  judgment.  It  is  only 
when  the  conscience  is  at  peace  with  God,  that  it  construes 
every  thing  that  betides  us  as  a  messenger  from  him.  But 
the  apostles  themselves  were  conscious  of  doubt  and  of  sin ; 
and  when  even  their  greatest  Friend  came  to  save  them, 
their  consciences,  blinded  by  sin,  made  them  suspect  it  was 
an  emissary  from  beneath  approaching  to  crush  them.  It 
was  only  his  own  familiar  accents  ringing  louder  than  the 
noise  of  the  sea  waves,  that  hushed  their  fears,  and  made 
them  not  be  afraid. 

Peter,  ever  first  to  speak,  readiest  to  dare,  "  answered 
him  and  said,  Lord,  if  it  be  thou,"  as  if  he  were  not  quite 
sure,  "  bid  me  come  unto  thee  on  the  water "  —  I  should 
like  to  test  thy  word.  He  was  not  sure  that  it  was  Christ. 
"And  Jesus  said,  Come."  Peter  went,  and  walked  on  the 
water,  but  soon  began  to  sink.  Why  did  he  begin  to  sink  ? 
It  is  told  us  in  the  30th  verse,  "  When  he  saw  the  wind 
boisterous,  he  was  afraid."  He  looked  at  the  waves,  listened 
to  the  wind,  and  looked  away  from  the  Lord  of  wind  and 
wave.  It  is  so  too  often  with  us.  If  we  look  at  the  trial, 
and  not  at  Him  who  sends  it,  we  may  well  be  alarmed ;  but 
if  we  look  at  Him  who  sends  the  trial,  and  see  him  direct- 
ing and  overruling  it,  then  we  shall  feel  that  neither  life, 
nor  death,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  principalities,  nor 
powers,  nor  things  past,  present,  or  to  come,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God, 
which  is  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 


128  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

When  Jesus  came  into  the  ship,  the  wind  ceased.  The 
secret  of  a  nation's  peace,  is  Christ  recognized  in  the  midst 
of  it.  The  secret  of  domestic  joy,  is  Christ  in  the  midst  of 
our  home.  The  secret  of  the  world's  regeneration,  is  Christ 
in  the  midst  of  it.  That  ship  that  has  a  Jonah  in  it,  let  it 
be  built  of  the  strongest  ribs  of  the  strongest  oaks,  will 
founder  in  the  storm  ;  whereas  that  ship  which  has  the  living 
Saviour,  the  Lord  of  the  wind,  the  tempest,  and  the  calm,  in 
it,  will  never  suffer  shipwreck,  but  bear  its  burden  and  its 
crew  to  the  haven  of  everlasting  peace ;  for  Christ  is  there, 
and  it  cannot  perish,  and  there  will  be  a  great  calm. 

"And  when  they  were  gone  over,  they  came  into  the  land 
of  Gennesaret.  And  when  the  men  of  that  place  had 
knowledge  of  him,  they  sent  out  into  all  that  country  round 
about,  and  brought  unto  him  all  that  were  diseased."  They 
recognized  the  Great  Physician.  "And  they  besought  him 
that  they  might  only  touch  the  hem  of  his  garment :  and  as 
many  as  touched  were  made  perfectly  whole."  Now,  we 
are  all  apt  to  suppose  that  storm,  tempest,  and  disease,  are 
the  natural  things ;  and  we  are  so  accustomed  to  them,  that 
we  think  such  is  the  natural  state  of  the  human  race.  But 
they  are  not  so.  We  shall  find  from  the  Bible,  that  every 
miracle  of  Jesus  was  meant  to  be  a  forestalment  of  his  last 
grand  state,  when  all  creation  shall  be  replaced  in  its  first 
orbit,  and  reinstated  in  its  pristine  harmony.  Disease  is  not 
natural.  It  is  not  natural  that  I  should  have  a  headache  or 
a  heartache.  It  is  not  natural  that  I  should  die.  There  is 
nothing  on  earth  so  unnatural  as  death.  Man  was  never 
made  to  die,  nor  meant  to  die ;  and  he  dies,  not  because 
God  so  made  him,  but  because  sin  has  so  diseased  and  dis- 
ordered him.  Tempest,  storm,  nakedness,  famine,  are  not 
the  normal  state  of  things,  but  the  abnormal;  and  every 
miracle  of  Jesus  was,  not  simply  a  feat  of  great  power,  but 
it  was  an  instalment  of  the  universal  redemption,  —  a  fore- 
shadow of  that  glorious  day,  when  all  storm  and  tempest 


MATTHEW   XIV.  129 

shall  be  laid,  when  all  disease  shall  be  expelled,  when  all 
death  shall  die,  and  the  world  shall  close,  as  the  world  be- 
gan, with  Paradise,  —  man  living  for  ever,  for  ever  holy,  for 
ever  happy,  because  united  to  the  Fountain  and  the  Lord 
of  Life,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Redeemer  of  them  all. 


Note.  —  [Mark  vi.  14-29 ;  Luke  ix.  7-9,  who  does  not  relate  the 
death  of  John.  —  1.]  This  Herod  was  Herod  Antipas,  son  of  Herod 
the  Great,  e/c  MaMa/cT/f  r^f  I,a/j,apeiTidog,  and  own  bi'other  of  Arche- 
laus.  (Jos.  B.  J.  i.  28.  4.)  The  portion  of  the  kingdom  allotted  to 
him  by  the  second  will  of  his  father  (in  the  fii'st  he  was  left  as  king) 
was  the  tetrarchy  of  Galilee  and  Perasa.  (Jos.  Ant.  xvii.  8.  1.)  He 
married  the  daughter  of  the  Arabian  king  Ai-etas  ;  but  having,  during 
a  visit  to  his  half-brother,  Herod  Philip,  (not  the  tetrarch  of  that  name, 
but  another  son  of  Herod  the  Great,  disinherited  by  his  father,)  be- 
come enamoured  of  his  wife  Herodias,  he  prevailed  on  her  to  leave 
her  husband,  and  live  with  him.  This  step,  accompanied  as  it  was 
with  a  stipulation  of  putting  away  the  daughter  of  Aretas-,  involved 
him  in  a  war  with  his  father-in-law,  which,  however,  did  not  break  out 
till  a  year  before  the  death  of  Tiberius,  a.d.  37,  u.c.  790,  (Jos.  Ant. 
xiii.  5.  1-3,)  and  in  which  he  was  totally  defeated,  and  his  army 
destroyed  by  Aretas.  A  divine  vengeance,  according  to  the  Jcavs,  foi 
the  death  of  John  the  Baptist.  (Josephus,  ibid.)  He  and  Herodias 
afterwards  went  to  Rome  at  the  beginning  of  Caligula's  reign,  to  com- 
plain of  the  assumption  of  the  title  of  king  by  Agrippa,  his  nephew, 
son  of  Aristobulus  ;  but  Caligula  having  heard  the  claims  of  both, 
banished  Antipas  and  Herodias  to  Lyons  in  Gaul,  Avhence  he  Avas 
afterwards  removed  to  Spain,  and  there  died.  (Jos.  Ant.  viii.  7. 
1,2.) 

The  Jews  attached  more  importance  to  the  traditionary  exposition 
than  to  the  scriqture  text  itself. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

CAVILLING    SCRIBES  —  TRADITION — WILLS    AND    PROPERTY  —  THE 

HEART    READER  HYPOCRISY  —  EATING       WITH       UNAVASHED 

HANDS  —  WOMAN     OF     CANAAN,    OR    BELIEVING     PRAYER  —  RES- 
URRECTION  FEEDING    THE    MULTITUDE. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  chapter  we  read  that  the 
ever  carping  and  unsatisfied,  because  insatiable  Pharisees, 
came  to  our  blessed  Lord,  and  tempted  him  again,  evidently 
trying  to  lead  him  into  a  snare.  They  said,  "  Why  do  thy 
disciples  transgress  the  tradition  of  the  elders  ?  "  These 
men  were  the  professed  guardians  of  the  sacred  oracles  ; 
they  professed  to  beheve  in  God's  inspired  word :  and  yet, 
you  observe,  the  first  fault  that  they  found  with  Jesus  was, 
not  that  he  transgressed,  which  indeed  he  did  not,  any  por- 
tion of  God's  inspired  word,  but  that  he  transgressed  what 
they  thought  equally  important,  the  tradition  of  the  scribes 
and  the  elders.  It  is  remarkable,  that  with  respect  to  tra- 
dition and  Scripture,  no  man  can  serve  two  masters.  The 
moment  that  a  church,  a  minister,  or  a  party,  tries  to  exalt 
tradition  to  exactly  the  same  place  or  level  as  God's  written 
word,  in  a  very  few  years  the  practical  result  is,  that  tradi- 
tion gets  the  upper  hand,  and  Scripture  takes  the  lower. 
You  say.  How  can  this  be  accounted  for?  On  this  simple 
principle,  that  when  the  two  masters  come,  not  only  by  the 
law  that  we  cannot  serve  two  equally,  but  by  a  higher  law, 
that  we  shall  serve  most  the  one  that  suits  most  our  fallen 
taste  —  (now  tradition  suits  the  fallen  heart ;  Scripture  re- 
bukes its  corruptions)  —  the  result  is,  that  man  comes  to 


MATTHEW   XV.  131 

like  the  prophet,  Tradition,  that  prophesies  only  good  about 
him ;  and  he  dislikes  the  prophet,  Scripture,  because  it  tes- 
tifies against  him  that  his  deeds  are  evil.  Jesus  answered 
their  question  by  asking  another,  "  Why  do  ye  transgress, 
what  is  infinitely  more  important,  but  what  you  have  forgot- 
ten, the  commandment  of  God  by  your  tradition  ?  "  The 
fact  is,  that  in  that  day  the  Pharisaic  church  held  the  same 
position  to  the  church  of  Zacharias  and  Simeon,  that  the 
Roman  church  does  to  the  church  of  Knox,  Latimer,  Rid- 
ley, and  Cranmer.  The  whole  truth  was  overlaid  by 
human  tradition,  till  God's  word  had  ceased  to  speak,  and 
man's  sentiments  were  alone  audible. 

Jesus  then  cites  a  proof  of  his  statement,  as  if  he  had 
said,  "  I  wall  not  urge  this  vaguely,  I  will  prove  it.  Ye 
say,  Whosover  shall  say  to  his  father  or  his  mother,  It  is  a 
gift,  he  shall  be  free  from  obeying  the  fifth  commandment." 
This  aUudes  to  a  prevalent  practice.  Jews  or  Pharisees 
who  wished  to  will  away  their  estates  from  their  nearest 
relatives  made  a  vow  that  they  would  give  it  to  the  priests, 
to  the  altar,  and  to  sacred  usages ;  and  this  vow  w^as  re- 
garded as  so  binding,  that  if  a  man  dying  worth  £10,000 
had  devised  it  to  the  church,  his  father  and  mother  might 
beg  upon  the  streets.  Now,  what  is  this  but  that  which  in 
later  years  we  have  seen  enacted  before  the  eyes  of  our 
own  country,  —  the  fact,  that  men  have  been  induced  to  will 
away,  through  the  manoeuvres  of  modern  Pharisees,  their 
money  to  "  pious  uses,"  as  they  are  devoutly  called,  but 
Avhich  mean,  priestly  gratification ;  and  then  the  relatives 
are  left  to  starve  ?  The  best  way  is  for  men  to  be  liberal 
in  life,  by  giving  what  they  can  spare,  —  not  superfluity, 
but  sacrifice ;  and  then,  what  they  leave  behind  let  those 
who  belong  to  them  have  if  they  need  it,  for  they  have  the 
best  claim  ;  but  certainly  the  worst  use  to  which  it  can  be 
applied  is  that  which  is  called  a  "  pious  use,"  or  a  priestly 
purpose. 


132  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

Our  Lord  adds,  "  Ye  hypocrites,  well  did  Esaias  prophesy 
of  you."  We  are  not  warranted  in  denouncing  any  man  as 
a  hypocrite.  We  may  not  judge,  because  we  cannot  always 
judge  righteous  judgments.  But  recollect  that  He  who  said 
so  in  this  place  was  He  to  whom  all  hearts  are  open.  How 
pitiful  was  the  state  of  these  poor  Pharisees !  They  thought 
they  were  so  clever,  that  even  the  Son  of  God  could  not 
find  them  out ;  and  they  little  knew  that  that  bright  and 
penetrating  eye  was  upon  every  thought,  intricacy,  wish, 
plan,  and  purpose,  in  their  hearts ;  and  that  while  they 
could  only  read  the  outward  page,  he  could  read,  decipher, 
and  lay  bare  the  inward  recesses  of  the  heart !  Therefore, 
he  could  say  what  you  and  I  would  not  be  warranted  in 
saying,  "  Ye  hypocrites."  And  here,  again,  I  ask  you  to 
notice,  that  the  class  of  men  whom  Jesus  seems  to  have  re- 
buked with  the  most  unsparing  severity  were  hypocrites.  It 
is  a  most  striking  fact,  that  to  the  poor  woman  caught  in 
great  sin,  while  he  forgave  the  sinner  and  denounced  the 
sin,  he  said,  "  Go,  and  sin  no  more,"  —  to  the  chiefest  of 
sinners  he  seemed  to  have  a  fold  in  his  bosom ;  the  greatest 
grief  had  an  echo  in  his  heart,  the  greatest  sin  had  forgive- 
ness in  his  blood  ;  but  hypocrisy  he  seems  to  have  withered 
constantly  by  the  greatest  censure.  And  I  know  nothing 
more  worthy  of  it.  The  man  who  makes  religion  a  stalk- 
ing-horse, —  who  knowingly  makes  use  of  religion  in  order 
to  get  power,  wealth,  popularity,  a  name,  progress,  is  one 
whose  conduct  cannot  be  denounced  with  too  great  severity, 
and  whose  instant  repentance  and  conversion  cannot  be 
prayed  for  too  earnestly.  But  He  says,  notwithstanding  all 
this,  "  In  vain  they  do  worship  me,  teaching  for  doctrines 
the  commandments  of  men." 

He  then  explains  what  he  had  said  to  them,  saying,  that 
eating  with  unwashen  hands  is  nothing.  It  is  not  what,  nor 
how  people  eat,  that  commends  them  in  the  sight  of  God. 
That  they  should  wash  their  hands  previously  may  be  a 


MATTHEW    XV.  133 

matter  of  propriety  or  delicacy,  but  it  is  not  of  divine  obli- 
gation. And  therefore,  it  is  absurd  to  talk  of  the  mode  in 
which  people  eat  or  drink,  as  a  thing  that  affects  their  moral 
characters  and  well-being.  It  is  not  what  goes  into  a  man's 
mouth  that  defiles  him,  but  what  comes  out  of  his  heart. 
Wliat  rich  common  sense  is  in  this  Avonderful  Book  !  I  say 
common  sense,  though  it  ought  to  be  called  rare  sense,  of 
which  an  illustrious  one  lately  gone  was  so  striking  and 
magnificent  a  specimen.  It  is  the  next  thing  to  inspiration. 
Howells,  than  whom  no  one  was  more  competent  to  judge, 
said  in  Long  Acre  puljDit,  "  The  Bible  is  common  sense 
inspired."  It  is  not  what  peoj^le  eat  that  makes  them  better 
or  worse,  but  it  is  what  people's  hearts  are.  God  looks 
not  at  what  you  eat,  but  he  listens  to  what  the  heart  beats. 
Let  a  man  fast,  if  it  suits  him  ;  and  let  another  not  fast,  if 
it  suits  him.  It  is  not  fasting  or  feasting  that  constitutes 
Christianity.  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  nor 
drink  ; "  it  is  something  far  better,  "  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

He  then  enumerates  the  things  that  come  out  of  the  heart. 
And  what  a  picture  is  this  !  My  dear  friends,  if  I  were  to 
say  that  out  of  any  human  heart,  "  proceed  evil  thoughts, 
murders,  adulteries,  fornications,  thefts,  false  witness,  blas- 
phemies ; "  some  people  would  charge  me  with  exaggera- 
tion and  extravagance.  And  yet,  this  is  the  language  of 
that  tender,  merciful,  truth  speaking,  truth  loving  Saviour. 
He  tells  us  that  the  human  heart  in  its  natural  state  —  your 
heart,  my  heart  —  is  exactly  this.  And  if  these  streams  do 
not  come  from  our  hearts,  do  not  say,  "  That  is  because  I 
was  born  superior  to  other  men,"  but  "  because  I  have  been 
reborn  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God." 

There  came  to  him  a  woman  of  Canaan,  and  therefore  a 

Gentile,  and  said,  "  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  Lord,  thou  Son 

of  David ;  my  daughter  is  grievously  vexed  with  a  devil,"  — 

a  literal   and    actual  demoniacal   possession.      Now  mark 

12 


134  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  identity  here  indicated  between  the  mother  and  the 
daughter.  The  daughter's  case  was  so  thoroughly  the 
mother's  by  sympathy,  that  she  said,  "  Have  mercy  upon 
we."  Why  ?  "  For  my  daughter  is  vexed  with  a  devil ;  " 
that  is,  "  I  ask  mercy  for  myself,  when  I  ask  a  cure  or  de- 
liverance for  my  daughter."  Well,  the  first  result  of  her 
appeal  was,  "  He  answered  her  not  a  word."  We  some- 
times pray,  and  no  instant  answer  comes ;  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  our  prayer  is  not  heard  :  the  very  silence  of 
Jesus  may  be  most  significant.  The  interval  between  the 
prayer  and  the  reply  may  be  the  interval  when  he  is  work- 
ing for  us,  and  sympathizing  deeply  with  us.  But  "  his  dis- 
ciples came  and  besought  him,  saying.  Send  her  away."  Oh ! 
what  a  contrast  between  the  blessed  Master  and  even  the 
best  of  his  disciples.  And,  if  you  want  acceptance  still,  it 
will  not  always  be  in  the  bosom  of  the  priest,  the  bishop,  or 
the  church.  It  is  best  to  leave  these  where  Christ  has  left 
them,  at  the  lowest  step.  They  may  say,  "  Send  them 
away  ;  "  but  you  will  always  find  in  one  Bosom  perfect  shel- 
ter and  repose.  He  never  sent  away  a  single  applicant  for 
acceptance.  "  But  he  answered  and  said,  I  am  not  sent  but 
unto  the  lost  sheej)  of  the  house  of  Israel ; "  that  is,  my  mis- 
sion is  now  to  Israel.  He  told  the  disciples  not  to  go  beyond 
Palestine,  whereas  a  day  would  come  when  they  were  to  go 
into  all  the  world.  Nevertheless,  it  seems  as  if  that  deep 
Fountain  of  mercy,  which  was  meant  at  that  time  only  for 
Palestine,  so  overflowed  at  times,  that  its  droppings,  like  the 
gentle  rain,  twice  blessed,  blessing  him  that  gives  and  him 
that  takes,  fell  occasionally,  because  irrepressible,  upon  Gen- 
tiles and  Canaanities.  "  Then  came  she  and  worshipped 
him,  saying,  Lord,  help  me."  Her  perseverance  was  most 
remarkable.  Our  Lord  has  told  us  to  pray  ;  but  he  has  not 
said,  "Pray  to-day,  and  I  will  answer  to-morrow."  He 
says,  "  Pray  to-day  and  to-morrow  :  it  is  my  prerogative  to 
answer  when  I  please."     We  constantly  intrude  on  God's 


MATTHEW    XV.  135 

province  by  doubting  if  this  be  right  or  that  good  for  us, 
instead  of  confining  ourselves  to  our  own,  which  is  tsimply 
to  ask  supplies  from  the  Almighty.  He  said,  again,  what 
seemed  worse  that  ever,  "  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  chil- 
dren's bread,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs,"  as  the  Gentiles  were 
called.  It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  "  dog  "  is  used  almost 
invariably  throughout  the  Bible  to  denote  an  unclean  and 
rather  hateful  animal. 

It  is  surely  most  singular  that  the  most  sagacious  of  ani- 
mals should  be  regarded  in  Scripture  as  almost  a  repulsive 
one.  But  in  this  instance  it  is  not  the  usual  Greek  word  for 
"  dog  ; "  it  is  a  diminutive,  and  seems  to  contain  in  it  a  new 
idea  of  affection  or  love,  and  means,  that  to  dogs,  however 
esteemed,  it  is  not  proper  to  give  the  bread  of  the  children 
of  Abraham.  But  mark  her  most  striking  eloquence ;  and 
of  all  pleaders  a  woman  is  always  the  most  eloquent,  and,  if 
a  Christian,  the  most  efiective,  because  the  most  delicate 
shades  of  argument  seem  naturally  to  occur  to  her.  She 
therefore  pressed  closer  upon  Him,  who  seemed  to  repulse 
her,  and  turned  his  replies  into  her  reasons,  and  opposition 
into  argument,  saying,  "  Truth,  Lord  :  yet  the  dogs  eat  of 
the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their  masters'  table."  And  if 
she  had  said,  "  The  children  of  Abraham  are  around  the 
table  of  thy  rich  beneficence,  blessed  Lord ;  I  am  but  a 
poor,  though  an  affectionate  dog.  Yet  I  am  just  under  the 
edge  or  margin  of  that  table ;  for  I  am  in  Canaan,  not  in  a 
distant  land,  but  in  one  that  borders  on  the  land  of  the  chil- 
dren. And  therefore,  if  some  little  crumbs  fall  accidentally, 
w^hy  should  not  I,  dog  as  I  am,  partake  of  them  ?  "  Jesus, 
who  inspired  the  grace  that  prayed,  expressed  his  admira- 
tion of  the  faith  that  so  persevered  ;  and  he  said,  "  O  woman, 
great  is  thy  faith."  He  did  not  say,  "  Great  is  thy  argu- 
ment, great  thy  patience,  and  thy  love,"  all  of  which  were 
most  eminently  great ;  but  he  seized  upon  the  mother  grace, 
from  which  all  other  graces  flow,  and  he  said,  "  Great  is 


136  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

that  faith,  which  worketh  by  love,  which  purifieth  the  heart, 
which  overcometh  the  world ; "  and  he  gave  her  more  than 
she  asked,,-^  "  Be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt.  And  her 
dau/i'^  Whv  V.  made  whole  from  that  very  hour." 
4^'\c*W>'^'  and  others  so  struck  the  multitude,  that  they 
brought  to  him  the  "  lame,  blind,  dumb,  maimed,  and  many 
others."  Now  that  expression  "  maimed  "  is  very  remark- 
able. It  means  those  who  had  lost  an  arm,  or  a  leg,  or  a 
foot.  You  will  not  charge  me  with  extravagant  belief  or 
credulity,  when  I  say  that  I  believe  that  such  were  literally 
healed.  Was  there  any  thing  impossible  in  restoring  an 
arm  to  one  who  had  lost  it,  and  the  very  arm  that  was  lost  ? 
I  believe,  in  the  case  of  those  heroes  who  are  the  shattered 
wrecks  and  remains  of  Waterloo,  some  of  whom  have  lost 
limbs  in  battle,  that  at  the  resurrection  morn,  when  the 
trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  dust  of  our  AVellingtons 
and  others  shall  rise,  that  arms  will  rejoin  bodies,  and  limb 
will  come  to  limb,  and  those  very  limbs  that  are  now  mingled 
with  the  dust,  and  over  which  the  corn  waves  peacefully, 
shall  be  restored  perfect  and  beautiful.  The  apostle  does 
not  say  that  this  body  shall  be  exchanged  for  an  immortal 
body ;  or  that  this  corruptible  body  shall  be  exchanged  for 
an  incorruptible  body.  If  it  were  so,  then  it  would  be 
easily  explained  in  the  ordinary  way.  But  he  says,  "  This 
very  mortal  shall  put  on  immortality,  and  this  very  corrupti- 
ble shall  put  on  incorruption."  You  say,  how  is  it  possible  ? 
A  man  who  is  drowned  in  the  ocean  is  devoured  by  the  fishes 
of  the  deep.  The  remains  of  shot,  and  shell,  and  all  the 
enginery  of  war,  are  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  buried 
on  battle  fields,  and  scattered  over  all  Europe.  How  can  all 
these  be  collected  ?  A  chemist  will  tell  you  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  anniliilation.  If  I  take  the  flax  that  grows  in 
the  field,  it  is  beaten,  purified,  and  turned  into  thread ;  that 
thread  is  woven  into  linen  ;  that  linen  is  torn  to  atoms  by 
the   most   powerful  machinery,  and   made  into  paper,  oa 


MATTHEW   XV.  137 

which  you  write  a  letter ;  that  letter  is  thrown  into  the  fire ; 
and  it  then  ascends  in  the  shape  of  carbon  or  smoke  into  the 
air ;  but  that  flax  exists  as  truly  now,  as  it  did  when  it  was 
growing  in  the  field.  Change  of  structure  is  the  law,  not 
annihilation.  And  if  the  chemist  can  by  his  tests  separate, 
disintegrate,  distinguish  elements,  so  that  if  arsenic  or  prus- 
"  sic  acid  has  been  taken  into  the  body,  he  can  bring  it  into 
the  court  of  justice,  and  show  it  has  been  there ;  will  you 
hold  that'the  great  Creator  of  all  the  chemical  laws  of  the 
world,  the  Omniscient  and  Omnipresent,  cannot  speak,  and 
atom  shall  come  to  atom,  every  atom  from  its  separate  place, 
and  limb  shall  come  to  limb,  and  the  dry  bones  in  a  thou- 
sand valleys  shall  be  an  army  of  men  shining  in  the  splen- 
dor of  the  resurrection  morn  ? 

We  read  of  another  miracle  performed  on  this  occasion. 
The  disciples  came  and  said  the  multitude  had  nothing  to 
eat ;  and  how  exquisitely  touching  is  that  reply,  "  I  will  not 
send  them  away  fasting,  lest  they  faint  by  the  way  ! "  How 
beautiful !  that  He  who  governs  angels,  should  condescend 
to  notice  even  the  humblest  wants  of  the  human  body.  But 
the  disciples,  never  so  tender  and  sympathizing  as  the  Mas- 
ter, as  it  were  said,  "  How  absurd !  Whence  should  we 
have  so  much  bread  in  the  wilderness  as  to  fill  so  great  a 
multitude  ?  "  Jesus  "  commanded  the  multitude  to  sit  down 
on  the  ground.  And  they  did  all  eat  and  were  filled." 
Now,  you  will  pardon  me  if  I  allude  to  the  monstroi*  absurd- 
ity of  certain  German  rationalists,  who  say  that  Matthew 
forgot  that  he  had  told  the  same  story  before,  just  as  a 
preacher  may  forget  that  he  has  stated  the  same  things 
before,  and  that  Matthew  made  a  mistake  in  his  second  story, 
in  saying  seven  instead  of  five.  Now  the  evidence  on  the 
face  of  the  narrative  is,  that  this  is  quite  a  distinct  miracle 
from  that  in  the  previous  chapter.  The  best  proof  of  it  is 
Matthew  xvi.  9,  10,  where  our  Lord  says,  "  Do  ye  not  yet 
understand,  neither  remember  the  five  loaves  of  the  five  thou- 
12* 


138  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

sand,  and  how  many  baskets  ye  took  up  ?  neither  the  seven 
loaves  of  the  four  thousand,  and  how  many  baskets  ye  took 
up  ?  "  He  refers  to  two  distinct  miracles.  And  there  is  a 
remarkable  clue  to  their  distinctness.  In  the  Greek  lan- 
guage there  are  two  words,  both  meaning  a  basket,  one  is 
Kodivoc,  the  other  is  oTcvpig.  Now  it  is  singularly  conclusive 
that  the  world  used  in  the  first  miracle  is  ii6(pLvo^,  and  in  the 
second,  anvpi^,  another  word  altogether.  And,  accordingly, 
when  Jesus  refers  to  the  two  miracles  in  his  statement  in 
the  16th  chapter,  this  distinction  is  studiously  preserved, 
"  Do  ye  not  remember  the  five  loaves  of  the  five  thousand, 
and  how  many  KO(l>ivovg  ye  took  up  ?  neither  the  seveft  loaves 
of  the  four  thousand,  and  how  many  GTrvpldac  ye  took  up  ?  " 
preserving  the  very  phraseology,  and  so  proving,  he  refers 
to  two  distinct  miracles.  We  may  depend  upon  it,  it  is 
ignorance  that  quarrels  with  Scripture.  I  find  that  what 
were  once  my  difficulties  are  now  my  axioms;  and  that  the 
more  I  read,  and  study,  and  think,  and  ponder  over  this 
blessed  "Word,  the  more  I  am  struck  with  the  irresistible  evi- 
dence of  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty. 

He  gave  thanks.  What  a  beautiful  model  and  precedent 
for  us  !  The  Lord  of  Glory  gave  thanks  for  the  bread  that 
he  held  in  his  hand.  Do  we  ever  think  sufficiently  that  two 
things  are  needed  in  order  that  we  may  derive  benefit  from 
our  daily  bread  ?  There  is  first  the  bread  to  be  eaten,  — 
and  that  is  the  least  important,  although  many  people  think 
it  the  most  important,  —  and  there  is  next  the  health  to  eat 
it.  The  most  pure  bread  may  be  poison  without  the  bless- 
ing of  God ;  the  most  imperfect  bread  may  do  us  good  with 
the  blessing  of  God.  At  all  events,  we  who  have  the  best 
bread  surely  do  not  omit  to  thank  the  Giver  ;  and  those  who 
have  all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life,  surely  they  do  not 
omit  to  give  the  glory  to  Him  who  gave  them  all ;  or  to 
show  the  reality  of  their  thanksgiving  by  distributing  to  the 
qreatures  made  by  the  same  hand,  to  whom  God  has  not 


MATTHEW    XV.  139 

been  so  bountiful.  And  then  this  thanksgiving  presents  a 
contrast  to  my  mind  most  striking.  In  his  making  tlie  five 
loaves  feed  five  thousand,  we  have  the  interposition  of  a 
God:  in  his  taking  up  that  piece  of  bread  and  giving  thanks, 
we  have  the  evidence  of  a  creature.  None  but  a  true  his- 
torian would  have  combined  and  coupled  things  which  seem 
contradictory,  but  which,  when  analyzed  and  seen  in  the 
light  of  the  rest  of  Scripture,  are  full  of  harmony,  and 
present  the  perfect  One.  He  that  could  create  the  bread, 
and  show  that  he  was  God,  equally  acknowledged  himself  a 
creature,  and  proved  he  was  so  by  giving  thanks.  If  I  am 
asked.  Was  Christ  a  man  ?  I  answer.  Yes  ;  look  at  the  de- 
pendent creature  giving  thanks  for  his  daily  bread.  If  I 
am  asked,  Was  Christ  God  ?  I  answer,  Yes ;  look  at  the 
Almighty  Creator  creating  bread  by  the  breath  of  his  nos- 
trils. If  you  ask  me,  What  was  he  ?  I  answer,  God  who 
satisfied  for  our  sins,  man  who  suffered  for  them,  the  one 
Mediator,  the  glorious  Day's  man,  who  lays  his  right-hand 
upon  the  throne  and  his  left  upon  us ;  and  so  of  God  and 
man,  the  twain  that  were  at  issue  makes  one. 

Christ  having  given  thanks,  "  distributed  to  the  disciples, 
and  the  disciples  to  them  that  were  sat  down ; "  just  as  he 
commanded  the  prophet  to  speak  to  the  dry  bones,  and  he 
did  so,  —  so  the  disciples,  without  questioning,  or  any  dis- 
cussion, or  hesitation,  did  what  the  Lord  commanded  them. 
And  the  bread  grew  as  they  gave  it :  what  they  thought  an 
impossibility  became  a  palpable  fact.  They  asked  the  ques- 
tions, the  one.  How  will  these  pence  buy  food  for  so  many  ? 
the  other.  There  are  but  five  barley  loaves  and  two  small 
fishes :  and,  lo  !  the  men  that  asked  despairingly,  in  their 
conscious  paralysis  of  all  hope,  themselves  answered  the 
question  by  feeding  the  five  thousand  with  these  few  barley 
loaves  and  few  fishes.  And  what  does  this  teach  us  ?  That 
to  use  what  we  have  is  the  way  to  get  more.  The  man  who 
will  make  a  good  use  of  the  little  religious  light  that  he  has, 


140  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

is  sure  to  get  more.  I  believe  an  inquiring  sceptic,  who 
will  live  up  to  the  light  that  he  has,  will  not  be  left  to  grope 
in  darkness :  I  am  sure  the  least  enlightened  Christian,  who 
will  act  up  to  the  light  that  shines  upon  him,  will  not  be  left 
without  more.  God  gives  to  him  that  hath,  and  takes  away 
what  he  hath  from  him  that  makes  no  use  of  it.  We  are 
also  taught  by  this,  and  by  the  fact  recorded  here  —  the  bar- 
ley loaves  feeding  and  nourishing  so  many  —  that  a  little 
embosomed  in  the  benediction  of  Christ  can  supply  many  ; 
that  much  deprived  of  that  benediction  or  blasted  by  his 
curse,  will  feed  none.  Why  is  it  that  bread  feeds  us,  and 
not  sand  ?  Ask  the  chemist  —  ask  the  physician  —  ask  Lie- 
big  himself.  He  will  talk  to  you  about  this  affinity,  and  that 
affinity,  and  this  process  of  assimilation,  and  that  power  of 
nutrition ;  but  when  he  has  said  his  all,  we  shall  be  just  as 
wise  as  he  is  :  neither  know  any  thing  about  it.  The  reason 
why  bread  feeds  me,  and  sand  does  not,  is  the  ordinance  of 
God ;  it  is  merely  the  fulfilment  —  and  this  miracle  is  spe- 
cially so  —  of  that  beautiful  saying,  "  Man  does  not  live  by 
bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  of  God." 

How  or  by  what  mysterious  process  this  miracle  was 
done,  it  is  not  for  us  to  determine.  There  is  a  difference 
between  it  and  the  miracle  of  the  water  being  turned  into 
wine.  In  the  case  of  the  water  being  turned  into  wine,  I 
already  observed,  that  the  difference  between  the  vine 
growing  in  the  vineyard  and  yielding  its  grapes,  and  then 
ultimately  coming  from  the  press  and  being  drunk  in  the 
shape  of  wine,  and  the  instantaneous  creation  of  the 
wine,  was  a  difference  of  time :  that  the  ordinary  miracle 
takes  a  whole  year  to  turn  the  vine  sap  into  wine  ;  that  in 
the  extraordinary  one,  Christ  accomplished  in  minutes  what 
it  takes  twelve  months  in  other  circumstances  to  do.  But 
l?ere  it  was  not  merely  hastening  a  process,  but  it  was  turn- 
ing a  few  barley  loaves  into  a  quantity  of  bread,  prepared 


MATTHEW    XV.  141 

and  fit  for  the  people  to  eat.  The  only  explanation  of  it 
we  can  give  is,  that  the  worlds  were  formed  by  the  word  of 
God,  so  that  things  which  are  seen  were  not  made  of  things 
that  do  appear.  We  need  to  learn  this  lesson  in  looking  at 
the  miracles  of  God,  that  Omnipotence  can  do  what  we 
cannot  do,  but  it  also  can  do,  and  does  do,  what  we  cannot 
comprehend ;  so  that  not  only  shall  our  physical  powers  be 
put  into  their  proper  space,  but  our  intellectual  power  also 
shall  be  taught  that  it  is  the  power  of  a  creature  finite,  and 
not  of  the  Creator  infinite.  And  yet  we  cannot  but  notice 
that  the  same  power  that  was  here  seen  is  displayed  every 
day.  In  the  seed  of  the  corn  that  shoots  into  the  stalk,  the 
blade,  and  the  ear,  we  have  a  miracle  just  every  whit 
as  great.  In  the  acorn  cast  into  earth,  that  develops 
itself  into  the  gigantic  and  overshadowing  oak,  we  have  a 
process  just  as  marvellous  every  whit  as  turning  the  few 
barley  loaves  into  a  bountiful  and  gracious  supply.  But  we 
are  so  accustomed  to  the  former  process,  that  we  call  it  the 
natural  one,  and  give  the  honor  and  glory  to  what  we  call 
"  the  laws  of  nature : "  we  are  so  startled  by  the  latter  pro- 
cess, that  we  are  constrained  to  admit  "  this  is  the  finger  of 
God."  But  if  the  processes  were  reversed,  —  if  the  usual 
law  were  that  the  word  of  some  being  turned  one  loaf  into 
a  hundred,  and  if  the  unusual  thing  were  that  a  little  seed 
cast  into  the  earth  shot  up  and  grew  into  ears  of  corn,  we 
should  call  the  latter  the  miracle.  "VVe  live  amid  miracles : 
every  pulse  of  our  heart  is  a  miracle  —  every  inspiration 
and  expiration  of  our  lungs  is  a  miracle  —  the  movement 
of  the  arm  by  the  volition  of  the  mind  is  a  miracle  ;  but 
we  are  so  accustomed  to  these  things  that  we  call  them 
natural  occurrences,  and  only  when  the  same  result  is 
achieved  by  a  more  rapid  oa'  a  more  startling  process  do  we 
call  it  a  miracle.  God  occasionally  suspends  the  ordinary 
process,  and  interferes   by  an  extraordinary  one,  to  teach 


142  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

man  that  creation  is  not  God,  and  that  in  God  all  creation 
lives,  and  moves,  and  has  its  being. 

When  Christ  healed  the  lame,  when  he  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  bhnd,  when  he  unstopped  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  we 
saw  restorative  miracles ;  they  were  restoring  nature  to 
what  nature  was,  or  what  nature  should  be.  But  in  this 
miracle  there  was  not  a  restorative  or  redemptive  act,  but 
clearly  a  feat  of  creative  power. 

Let  us  mark  another  fact  in  the  miracles  of  Christ ;  he 
never  performed  a  miracle,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  in 
vacuo  ;  he  always  laid  hold  of  a  substratum  to  work  upon. 
This  seems  by  analogy  to  teach  us  that  God  is  not  going  to 
supplant  this  earth  by  another  earth,  and  to  supersede  our 
present  bodies  by  other  bodies ;  but  out  of  the  present 
earth  to  construct  a  glorious  one ;  and  out  of  our  present 
bodies  to  raise  incorruptible  from  corruptible,  and  immortal 
from  mortal,  till  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.  And  so 
in  regeneration :  when  God  makes  a  natural  man  a  Chris- 
tian, he  does  not  extinguish  him,  and  substitute  another  in 
his  place,  but  he  retunes  him,  he  restores  him,  he  disentan- 
gles his  affections,  he  dips  them  in  the  fountain  of  living 
waters,  he  requickens  his  soul  and  makes  a  new  creature 
evolve  out  of  the  old  creature;  he  does  not  create  another 
creature  perfectly  distinct  and  different.  In  this  we  have  a 
foreshadow  and  earnest  of  the  age  to  come.  In  the  mira- 
cles of  healing  we  had  the  evidence  that  Christ  was  the 
great  Physician ;  in  the  miracle  of  raising  from  the  dead, 
we  had  the  evidence  that  Christ  was  Lord  of  Life ;  in  this 
miracle,  the  feeding  the  hungry,  we  have  the  evidence  that 
by  him  all  things  were  made,  and  that  he  is  the  Creator  of 
all,  as  well  as  Lord  of  all.  Li  this  miracle  there  is  a  grand 
apocalypse.  He  draws  aside  that  all  but  impenetrable  and 
mysterious  mantle,  which  conceals  the  Creator  from  the 
creature  in  the  midst  of  his  creation ;  and  he  shows  us,  not 


MATTHEW   XV.  143 

indeed  sunshine  and  shower,  sowing  and  reaping,  but  he 
sjiows  us  Christ,  the  compendium  of  them  all,  and  from 
whom  all  of  them  issue ;  the  Lord  of  the  sunshine  and  of 
the  shower,  the  Lord  of  the  spring  and  of  the  harvest ;  the 
Lord  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  produce  of  the 
earth.  In  this  miracle  we  see  that  the  good  of  things  is 
not  in  the  things,  but  in  the  Lord  of  the  things ;  and  that 
things  are  but  the  vehicles  and  the  exponents  of  a  virtue 
not  in  themselves,  but  proceeding  from  Him  who  made  all 
things,  and  gives  to  every  thing  its  mission.  You  have,  as 
it  were,  here  revealed  the  holy  of  holies  of  God's  creation. 
In  our  ordinary  view  we  have  results,  in  this  view  we  have 
the  source  of  results ;  in  our  ordinary  sphere  we  trace 
dimly  and  imperfectly  the  creature  up  to  the  creature's 
Creator,  but  here  of  a  sudden  the  veil  is  drawn  aside,  the 
light  shines  into  the  holy  place  and  reveals  the  Creator  at 
the  head  of  all,  and  we  see  that  it  is  not  the  creature  that 
has  the  virtue,  but  that  the  creature  is  the  empty  thing 
which  Christ  fills  with  virtue,  and  charges  to  his  work  of 
ministering  toward  them  that  are  his. 

To  have  all  things,  and  to  hold  them,  and  to  feel  that  we 
hold  them,  from  Christ's  hand,  is  the  true  way  to  enjoy 
them.  As  long  as  I  receive  what  I  have,  whatever  it  be, 
from  Christ,  so  long  uncertainty  and  anxiety  are  scattered. 
When  I  begin  to  feel  that  if  the  harvest  fail,  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest  remains  ;  if  my  health  give  way,  and  medicines, 
and  prescriptions,  and  earthly  physicians  can  do  no  good, 
the  great  Physician  still  remains ;  if  provision  leave  me, 
the  great  Provider  does  not.  But  when  we  look  at  the 
thing,  and  not  at  the  Lord  of  the  thing,  then  when  the  pro- 
vision fails,  or  when  health  goes,  or  when  the  harvest  comes 
short,  all  is  gone,  and  we  have  nothing  to  fall  back  upon. 
But  as  long  as  man  can  feel  that  these  things,  while  they 
last,  are  the  expressions  of  God's  goodness,  and  when  these 
things  fail,  that  the  author  and  the  giver  of  them  still  re- 


144  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

mains,  there  is  thereby  coramunieated  steadiness  and  con- 
sistency to  every  pulse  of  man's  heart,  and  to  every  foot- 
step in  man's  walk,  and  this  becomes  the  victory  that  over- 
cometh  the  world.  In  the  next  place,  when  we  receive 
blessings,  whatever  they  are,  from  Christ's  hand,  and  regard 
them  as  the  expressions  of  his  gift,  all  created  things  taste 
of  a  sweetness  they  never  had  before,  and  all  blessings 
become  as  it  were  double  blessings.  I  have  no  doubt,  when 
these  poor  people  received  the  bread  that  Christ  had  so 
blessed  and  so  multiplied,  that  they  felt  a  sweetness  in  that 
bread  that  they  never  experienced  in  any  bread  before. 

Pious  men  have  learned  to  look  to  Christ  as  the  giver 
of  these  blessings,  and  to  see  the  cross  upon  the  poorest 
crumb  that  they  have  ;  in  other  words,  they  have  realized 
that  good  idea  which  the  Roman  Catholics  carnalize,  as 
they  do  every  thing,  when  on  Good-Friday  they  draw  a 
cross  upon  the  bread  they  eat,  and  think  it  is  all  thus  sanc- 
tified ;  it  is  just  the  shell  or  husk  of  a  great  and  true 
thought,  viz.,  that  every  crumb  of  bread  has  the  cross  of 
Christ  upon  it  to  the  eye  of  faith,  that  the  least  mercy  is 
the  produce  of  his  blood  :  as  soon  as  we  can  see  and  feel 
the  great  fact  and  reality,  that  our  largest  and  least  bless- 
ings are  derived  from  Christ,  we  shall  see  Christ's  image 
reflected  from  every  thing,  we  shall  hear  the  sweet  tones  of 
his  voice  running  through  all  sounds,  we  shall  taste  in  bread 
something  sweeter  than  bread.  All  life  will  become  to  us 
a  grand  sacrament,  faith  itself  a  communion  table,  the 
whole  world,  as  it  were,  a  eucharistic  festival,  and  all  men 
will  be  felt  to  be  brethren  and  fellow  communicants ;  and 
to  our  eye  the  very  desert  will  rejoice,  and  the  wilderness 
blossom  as  the  rose.  These  are  not  the  mere  conjectures  of 
human  minds,  but  the  express  decrees  and  purposes  of 
God.  He  is  hastening  on  this  blessed  consummation,  and 
in  the  mean  time  he  gives  at  intervals  earnests  and  fore- 
tastes, —  sometimes  as  sunny  spots  in  individual  hearts,  and 


MATTHEW    XV.  145 

at  other  times  as  green  and  fragrant  patches  on  the  bosom 
of  the  eartli. 

Blessed  Lord,  who  hast  given  all  Scripture  for  our  learn- 
ing, give  us  grace  to  read,  mark,  and  inwardly  digest  it,  that 
it .  may  nourish  our  souls  for  eternal  life,  through  Jesus 
Christ.     Amen. 


Note.  —  The  modern  German  interpreters  assume  the  identity  of 
this  miracle  with  that  narrated  in  chap.  xiv.  14.  If  this  be  so,  then 
our  evangeUsts  must  have  forged  (!)  the  speech  attributed  to  our  Lord 
in  ch.  xvi.  9,  10.  But,  as  Ebrad  justly  remarks,  (Evangehen  Kritik, 
p.  532,)  every  circumstance  Avhich  could  vary,  does  vaiyin  the  two  ac- 
counts. The  situation  in  the  wilderness,  the  kind  of  food  at  hand,  the 
blessing  and  breaking,  and  distributing  by  means  of  the  disciples, 
these  are  common  to  the  two  accounts,  and  likely  to  be  so ;  but  here 
the  matter  is  introduced  by  our  Lord  himself,  with  an  expression  of 
pity  for  the  multitudes  who  had  continued  with  him  three  days  :  here, 
also,  the  provision  is  greater,  the  numbers  are  less  than  on  the  former 
occasion.  But  there  is  one  small  token  of  authenticity  which  marks 
these  two  accounts  as  referring  to  two  distinct  events,  even  had  we  not 
such  direct  testimony  as  that  of  ch.  xvi.  9,  10.  It  is,  that  whereas  the 
baskets  in  which  the  fragments  were  collected  on  the  other  occasion 
are  called  by  all  four  Evangelists  Kodtvot,  those  used  for  that  purpose 
after  this  miracle  are,  in  both  Matthew  and  Mark,  oirvpiSeg.  And 
when  our  Lord  refers  to  the  two  miracles,  the  same  distinction  is 
observed ;  a  particularity  which  could  not  have  arisen  but  as  pointing 
to  a  matter  of  fact,  that,  whatever  the  distinction  be,  which  is  uncer- 
tain, different  kinds  of  baskets  were  used  on  the  two  occasions. — Al' 
ford. 

13 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

DISSATISFACTION    OF    THE    SADDUCEES  —  A    SIGX   FROM   HEAVEN 

SIGNS     OF    THE    TI3IES  —  HEART     AND    CREED — CARNAL     MISIN- 
TERPRETATIONS—  INDIVIDUALITY     OF     GOSPEL PETER    AND 

HIS    SUCCESSORS  —  SELF-DENIAL  —  THE    SOUl's   WORTH. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact,  which  we  h.ave  read  in  pre- 
vious parts  of  this  Gospel,  that  Jesus  worked  many  most 
convincing  miracles,  the  Sadducees  and  Pharisees  were  not 
satisfied,  because  insatiable,  but  demanded  still  a  sign  from 
heaven.  They  would  not  be  satisfied  with  seeing  the  dead 
live,  the  sick  healed,  the  blind  seeing  ;  for  these  appeared  to 
be  signs  only  from  the  earth ;  what  they  wanted  was  some- 
thing like  a  brilliant  coruscation,  that  should  startle  the 
senses  of  all  beholders,  and  prove  to  them  that  there  was 
the  presence  of  One  who  had  descended  from  God,  or  was 
God. 

Now,  the  real  truth  is,  if  they  had  seen  all  the  signs  that 
omnipotent  power  could  furnish,  they  would  not  have  been 
persuaded.  It  was  not  argument  they  really  needed,  but 
honesty  or  grace.  They  were  bigoted  and  prejudiced,  and 
determined  to  find  reasons  for  rejecting  Jesus ;  and  there- 
fore their  request  of  a  new  and  startling  miracle  was  a  hypo- 
critical cover  for  their  own  obstinate  rejection  and  intended 
betrayal  of  the  Son  of  man. 

Jesus  therefore  said  unto  them,  "  Ye  hypocrites,"  — 
knowing  quite  well  that  it  was  not  more  power  that  they 
wished  to  see,  but  that  their  demand  was  a  covert  only  for 
the  hardness  of  their  hearts,  —  "  ye  can  discern  the  face  of 


MATTHEW   xvr.  147 

the  sky  ;  but  can  ye  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?  "  It 
was  probably  eventide :  the  sun  was  retiring  to  the  west, 
and  the  clouds  gorgeously  gilded  by  his  retreating  beams  ; 
and  as  these  clouds  appeared  in  the  west,  and  the  sun  dipped 
towards  the  horizon,  Jesus  said,  "  You  are  quite  competent 
to  determine  the  state  of  the  weather  by  the  face  of  the 
sky ;  and,  if  you  were  teachers  of  the  truth,  you  would  be 
able  to  pronounce  upon  the  age  of  the  world  at  which  we 
are  arrived,  and  the  facts  that  are  before  you,  from  signs 
that  are  as  unequivocal  and  decisive  as  those  that  relate  to 
the  foul  or  the  fair  weather."  At  this  very  period  the 
seventy  weeks  of  Daniel  were  run  out ;  the  forerunner  of 
Jesus,  in  the  person  of  the  Baptist,  had  appeared.  The 
signs  were  so  irresistible  that  the  Messiah  was  come,  that 
unprejudiced  persons  at  once  received  him  ;  and  only  the 
hardhearted,  prejudiced,  and  passionate  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees invented,  where  lliey  could  not  find,  reasons  for  reject- 
ing him.  He  therefore  assured  them  that  no  sign  should  be 
given  them  but  one,  and  that  sign  "  the  sign  of  the  prophet 
Jonas."  What  was  that  ?  He  explained  it  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter —  that  the  Son  of  man  should  be  three  days  and  nights 
in  the  earth,  and  then  rise  again.  But  that  sign  they  would 
not  receive;  for  "neither  will  they  believe,  though  one 
should  rise  from  the  dead."  The  fact  is,  our  hearts  have  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  our  creeds.  A  creed  ought  to  be 
based  on  evidence  —  it  ought  to  have  a  root  in  the  convic- 
tions of  the  intellect ;  but  very  often  what  we  feel  conven- 
ient to  believe  to  be  true,  imagination  is  most  prolific  in 
starting  reasons,  real  or  imaginary,  for  so  believing.  When 
men  are  determined  to  reject  a  testimony,  they  are  prepared 
previously  to  trample  on  every  proof  and  evidence  that  can 
be  produced,  and  to  reject  it,  just  because  they  do  not  like  it. 
Then  Jesus,  addressing  his  disciples,  said,  "  Take  heed 
and  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  the  Sad- 
ducees."     Doctrine  in   Scripture  is  compared  to  leaven  — 


148  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

sound  as  well  as  corrupt  doctrine  —  because  of  its  silent  and 
growing  progress.  Leaven  is  gradually  penetrating  and 
assimilating.  So  it  is  with  truth,  and  still  more,  in  a  fallen 
world,  with  error. 

But  notice  how  the  disciples  misunderstood  him  :  they 
interpreted  carnally  what  he  preached  spiritually.  And  this 
very  feature  in  the  conduct  of  the  disciples  w^ill  explain 
some  of  those  passages  which  have  been  the  subjects  of  mis- 
interpretation. When  Jesus  said,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again," 
Nicodemus  interpreted  it  carnally.  Again,  when  Jesus  told 
them,  "  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink 
indeed,"  they  said,  "  How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to 
eat  ?  "  and  then  Jesus  said,  "  The  words  that  I  speak  unto^ 
you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life."  And  so  here  the 
disciples  thought  that  he  spoke  of  literal  bread  ;  but  Jesus 
again  explained  it  to  them,  as  he  had  done  before,  and 
showed  that  he  spoke  of  a  doctrinal  influence,  not  of  a 
material  and  carnal  nutriment.  We  have,  therefore,  in  this 
a  light  by  analogy  cast  upon  other  passages  of  Scripture, 
which  the  disciples  misinterpreted,  and  which  some  who 
ought  to  know  better  now,  since  Pentecost,  persist  in  misin- 
terpreting, asserting  that  baptism  is  regeneration,  and  that 
the  bread  and  wine  on  the  communion  table  are  the  literal 
flesh  and  blood  of  the  Son  of  man. 

Jesus  said  to  them,  "  Whom  do  men  say  that  I  the  Son 
of  man  am  ?  And  they  said.  Some  say  that  thou  art  John 
the  Baptist ;  some,  Ellas,  Avho  is  to  come  at  the  end  of  the 
world  ;  and  others,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  prophets."  Then 
He  said,  what  is  so  important,  "  But  whom  say  ye  that  I 
am  ?  "  One  man  thinks  this  —  another  man  thinks  that ; 
but  what  think  ye  ?  The  individuality  that  is  constantly 
asserted  in  the  Gospel  is  most  striking.  It  is  a  constant 
appeal  to  every  man  to  think  less  about  his  neighbor's  state, 
except  challtably,  and  to  think  more  about  his  own  safety 
in    the    sight   of    God.     You    remember   that   remarkable 


matthp:w  XVI.  149 

instance,  when  one  said,  "  Lord,  are  there  many  that  be 
saved  ?  "  —  a  very  curious  question,  and  one  that  has  been 
sometimes  mooted.  But  what  was  the  answer  of  Jesus  ? 
"  Strive  ye  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate."  And  when 
another  said,  "  Lord,  what  shall  this  man  do  ? "  what  did 
Jesus  say  ?  "  What  is  that  to  thee  :  follow  thou  me."  We 
have  no  time  for  criticisms  upon  others.  First  make  sure 
that  you  are  safe  yourselves  ;  and,  being  assured  of  this,  go 
forth  to  make  happy  and  holy  all  that  are  within  your  reach. 
Peter  instantly  answered,  in  a  most  striking  manner,  not 
"  We  say  "  —  the  question  was  "  Whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  " 
—  but  Peter  does  not  reply,  "  We  say,"  lest  that  should  not 
appear  decisive  enough,  but  as  if  he  said  we  have  not  the 
least  doubt  of  it,  "  Thou  art  the  Anointed  One,  the  Son  of 
the  living  God."  In  the  former  passage,  he  is  described  as 
the  Son  of  man ;  in  this,  the  Son  of  the  living  God  :  the 
first  implying  his  humanity,  the  second  his  divinity. 

Then  Jesus  said,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-jona :  for 
flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  "  'No  man  can  say  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  except  by  the  Spirit ; "  and  the  promise  is, 
"All  shall  be  taught  of  God,"  and  Peter  was  one  of  these. 

He  adds,  —  what  I  shall  afterwards  illustrate,  —  "  And  I 
say  unto  thee.  That  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I 
will  build  my  church ;  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it.  And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  The  keys  here  promised  to  Peter 
are  promised  to  all :  for,  in  the  18th  chapter  of  this  very 
Gospel,  we  read  that  where  there  is  a  quarrel  between 
brethren,  they  are  to  tell  it  to  the  church,  which  must  mean 
the  congregation,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Whatsoever 
ye"  —  the  plural  number,  and  addressed  to  the  laity  — 
"  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven ;  and  what- 
soever ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven." 
And  therefore  Peter  had  no  monopoly :  whatever  he  had, 
13* 


150  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

not  only  the  apostles,  but  the  disciples  had  also ;  for  it  is  a 
literal  fact,  that  there  is  not  a  privilege  or  prerogative 
claimed  for  the  clergy  by  those  who  desire  to  establish  cler- 
ical power,  which  cannot  be  proved  to  be  as  much  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  laity.  Jesus  addressed  the  same  words  to 
the  laity  that  he  addressed  to  the  apostles  —  "  Whatsoever 
ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven ;  and  what- 
soever ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven." 
And  then  he  defines  this  prerogative  in  the  20th  verse  of 
the  18th  chapter,  "  For  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  to- 
gether in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  So 
that  while  Peter,  in  the  16th  chapter,  receives  the  commis- 
sion, you  will  recollect  that  in  the  Gospel  of  John  all  the 
apostles  received  it;  and  you  will  find,  in  the  18th  chapter 
of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  that  the  laity  also  received  it : 
and  it  is,  therefore,  a  power  that  belongs  to  the  humblest 
Christian  woman,  as  much  as,  and  much  more  than  it  be- 
longs to  the  Pope  of  Rome,  or  any  of  his  bishops. 

Then  it  appears  that  Jesus  began  to  explain  how  he 
should  suffer  many  things  of  the  chief  priests.  "Then 
Peter  took  him,  and  began  to  rebuke  him,  saying,  Be  it  far 
from  thee.  Lord:  this  t^hall  not  be  unto  thee;"  evidently 
not  understanding  that  it  was  necessary  that  Christ  should 
first  suffer,  and  then  enter  into  his  glory.  Peter  would 
snatch  at  the  crown,  but  would  not  re*acli  it  through  the 
cross.  Many  persons  like  the  reaping  of  the  harvest,  but 
they  do  not  like  the  patient  sowing  in  spring.  Many  would 
like  to  have  heaven  now :  God's  arrangement  is,  that 
through  much  tribulation  we  must  enter  into  that  kingdom. 

But  what  did  our  Lord  say  ?  "  Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan ;  thou  art  an  offence  {aKdv6a?Lov)  unto  me."  Peter 
says.  The  Christ  is  to  many  a  Trhpa  ci<.av6(ikov,  that  is,  "  a 
rock  of  offence,"  evidently  in  allusion  to  this  passage. 

Now,  suppose  that  in  the  18th  verse,  Peter  was  made 
the  foundation  of  the  Church,  it  does  not  follow  that  Peter's 


MATTHEW    XA^I.  151 

successor  is  the  foiintlation  of  it.  When  you  think  of  a 
foundation,  you  can  only  conceive  of  one ;  and  therefore  it 
follows,  that  if  Peter  was  the  foundation,  his  successors 
must  be  the  superstructure ;  or  they  must  dislodge  Peter, 
that  Pio  Nono  may  take  Peter's  place.  Both  cannot  be 
the  foundation  :  one  or  other  must  be  the  superstructure.  If 
Peter,  then,  be  the  foundation,  it  does  not  follow  that  his 
successors  have  all  his  privileges  and  prerogatives.  But 
suppose  that  the  successors  of  Peter  actually  inherit  all  the 
prerogatives  he  had :  then,  if  they  inherit  his  succession  as 
the  rock  (Trerpof),  how  do  they  get  rid  of  the  succession, 
"  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  ? "  It  will  not  do  to  take 
Peter's  mantle  when  he  speaks  truth,  and  is  praised  ;  and 
to  throw  it  away  when  he  commits  sin  and  states  error. 
They  must  take  the  succession  as  a  whole,  or  not  at  all ; 
and  I  must  say,  that  in  the  Church  of  Rome  there  is  more 
evidence  of  the  succession  of  the  23d  verse,  than  of  the 
18th.  If  they  say  that  what  Peter  personally  received, 
they,  Peter's  pretended  successors,  also  receive,  they  must 
not  take  the  kernel,  arid  cast  away  the  shell,  —  take  the 
good,  and  reject  the  bad.  They  must  take  Satan  Peter  as 
well  as  Rock  Peter.  I  suspect,  poor  Peter  was  often,  be- 
fore the  day  of  Pentecost,  a  fainting,  a  failing,  and  an 
erring  foundation,  rather  than  a  strong,  unerring,  and  per- 
fect one. 

Then  Jesus  tells  them  what  a  true  Christian  is  ;  "  If  any, 
man  will  come  after  me,"  that  is,  if  he  will  be  a  Christian, 
"let  him  deny  himself"  —  one  of  the  noblest  traits  of  a 
Christian,  —  "  let  him  deny  his  passions,  prejudices,  prefer- 
ences, interest,  profit,  when  my  interests  and  my  glory 
demand  it ;  and  let  him  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me." 
Many  a  man  has  a  cross  from  nature  ;  Christians  only  have 
Christ's  cross,  that  is,  a  trial  borne  for  Christ's  sake. 

He  puts  the  momentous  question,  "  What  is  a  man 
profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own 


152  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

soul  ?  "  What  value  will  it  be  to  him  ?  What  an  awful 
idea  is  the  loss  of  the  soul !  Of  all  losses  it  is  the  greatest. 
If  I  lose  my  health,  I  may  recover  it  by  medical  treatment. 
If  1  lose  my  wealth,  I  may  recover  it  by  industry.  If  I 
lose  one  friend,  I  may  make  another.  But  if  I  lose  my 
soul,  there  is  no  recovery  of  that.  It  is  not  only  irretrieva- 
ble, but  there  is  no  compensation.  If  I  lose  my  eyesight, 
by  a  very  beautiful  provision  in  God's  economy,  the  sense 
of  hearing  becomes  more  acute ;  if  I  lose  my  hearing,  the 
eye  becomes  more  susceptible ;  and  if  both,  the  sense  of 
touch  becomes  more  exquisitely  delicate,  —  God  having 
arranged  compensations  in  our  physical  economy.  But  if  I 
lose  my  soul,  there  is  nothing,  nothing,  nothing  for  ever 
that  can  compensate  for  so  awful,  so  irretrievable  a  ruin. 
May  we  know  what  the  soul's  worth  is,  not  by  its  loss,  but 
by  its  everlasting  gain ! 

Some  persons  belonging  to  the  Romish  communion  have 
built  upon  verse  twenty-seven  the  theory,  that  there  is  abso- 
lute merit  inherent  in  our  works ;  that  all  that  Christ  does 
for  us  is  to  help  us  to  do  good  works,  which,  without  him, 
we  could  not  do ;  and  that  those  good  works  will  be  the 
grounds  of  our  acquittal  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ. 

But  this  is  impossible.  We  owe  to  God  every  feeling  of 
love,  of  purity,  of  loyalty,  of  holiness,  which  we  ever  felt ; 
and,  therefore,  there  can  be  no  merit  in  aught  we  feel  or  do. 
When  a  man  pays  his  debts,  he  does  his  duty  merely ;  he 
does  not  create  a  fund  of  merit,  or  lay  his  creditor  under 
obligation.  Our  purest  thoughts,  however,  are  tainted,  and 
our  best  deeds  mingled  with  alloy,  and  both  need  to  be  for- 
given;  and,  therefore,  they  cannot  surely  deserve  to  be 
rewarded.  Besides,  whatever  love  we  cherish,  —  whatever 
sympathy  with  the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  holy  we 
feel,  —  whatever  loyalty  we  reciprocate,  —  whatever  devot- 
edness  to  God  we  show  in  our  life,  our  conversation,  and 
our  conduct  in  the  world,  are  all,  not  self-originated,  but  the 


MATTHEW    XVI.  153 

inspirations  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  fountain  of  them  is 
not  our  own,  and  they  shame  us ;  our  virtues  are  not  our 
own,  and,  therefore,  they  cannot  purchase  for  us.  We 
must  bring  all,  our  best  and  our  worst  things,  to  the  throne 
of  the  heavenly  grace,  and  ask  frank  forgiveness  for  them 
all,  and  acceptance  for  ourselves  only  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus.  But,  you  say  still,  the  word  "  reward  "  carries  in 
popular  apprehension  the  idea  of  merit.  It  has  suggested 
to  many  that  idea ;  does  it  really  mean  so  ?  I  answer,  if 
happiness  be  the  just  and  adequate  reward  of  good  works, 
then,  of  course,  good  works  are  properly  meritorious  in  the 
sight  of  God.  But  if  I  show  that  the  word  "  reward,"  in 
Scripture,  is  used,  not  in  its  strict  sense,  but  in  its  loose  or 
popular  sense,  then  you  will  conclude  with  me,  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  attach  the  idea  of  essential  merit  to  the 
use  of  it  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  word  "  buy,"  for 
instance,  is  used  in  Scripture,  not  in  the  sense  of  giving 
money  as  an  equivalent;  as  in  the  following  quotation: 
"  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters ;  yea, 
come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without  price." 
The  merely  popular  and  forensic  use  of  the  word  means, 
to  give  so  much  money  for  so  much  good ;  but  it  is  obvi- 
ously used  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  denote  more  sensibly 
the  excellency  of  the  things  we  receive,  and,  in  order  to 
detach  from  it  the  idea  of  equivalent,  there  are  even  super- 
added the  words,  "  without  money  and  without  price."  We 
find  the  word  "  reward  "  used  in  the  same  way.  Thus  it  in 
said  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  his  army,  that  "  Egypt  shall 
be  their  reward."  Again  :  "  Ye  shall  receive  the  reward  of 
the  inheritance."  But  it  is  plain,  from  this  last  passage, 
that  if  heaven  be  an  "  inheritance,"  it  cannot  be  a  reward 
in  the  strict  and  literal  sense  of  that  term.  We  read  in  the 
final  sentence,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom."  Now  the  word  "  inherit "  disposes  of  all  idea 
of  personal  desert.     For  instance :  a  nobleman   dies ;  his 


154  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

son  is  a  profligate,  but  still  he  inherits  his  father's  coronet ; 
not  because  of  any  thing  he  has  done  or  deserved,  nor  by 
any  thing  he  has  undone,  but  simply  because  he  is  the  son, 
and,  therefore,  the  legal  heir  of  his  father.  So  we  receive 
heaven  as  the  sons  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ,  and 
not  as  the  reward  of  any  merit  or  excellence  of  ours.  And 
so,  in  this  passage,  reward  does  «ot  necessarily  imply  re- 
ceiving that  which  our  virtues  have  arned,  or  our  merit 
procured.  Other  passages  of  Scripture  justify  this  inter- 
pretation, and  show  that  no  idea  of  merit  is  implied.  vScrip- 
ture  says,  "  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justi- 
fied." And  again,  "  A  man  is  not  justified  by  the  works  of 
the  law ;  but  by  the  faith  of  Christ."  And  again,  "  By 
grace  are  ye  saved  througli  faith ;  and  that  not  of  your- 
selves, it  is  the  gift  of  God ;  not  of  works,  lest  any  man 
should  boast."  And  again,  "  Who  hath  saved  us  and  called 
us,  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own 
purpose  and  grace."  And  again,  "  Being  justified  by  his 
grace,  we  are  made  heirs  of  God,  according  to  the  hope  of 
eternal  life."  Thus,  these  and  kindred  passages  clearly 
prove  that  there  can  be  nothing  of  merit  in  us,  entitling  us 
to  the  joy  and  felicity  of  everlasting  life.  And  yet,  while 
Scripture  thus  distinctly  puts  good  works  away  from  any 
share  in  our  title,  and  separates  from  them  every  thing  like 
merit,  in  the  judgment  of  God,  it  insists  upon  them,  through 
all  its  books,  in  the  most  eloquent  and  earnest  terms.  Thus: 
"  We  are  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works." 
Again :  "  Thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works." 
Again  :  "  Rich  in  good  works."  Again :  "  Careful  to  main- 
tain good  works."  Again  :  "  Prepared  unto  every  good 
work."  So  we  cannot  fail  to  see  perfectly  consistent  what 
at  first  seems  a  contradiction,  —  good  works  depreciated  on 
the  one  page,  and  inculcated  on  the  next ;  dispensed  with  in 
one  line  ;  insisted  upon  in  another ;  declared  to  be  nothing 
in  one  chapter,  and  pronounced  to  be  essential  in  the  next. 


MATTHEW   XVI.  155 

How  do  we  explain  this  ?  The  answer  is  plain.  The 
exclusion  of  good  works  from  one  great  doctrine  of  the  gos- 
pel does  not  imply  the  extinction  of  good  works  in  the 
Christian  character.  The  exclusion  of  all  good  works  from 
our  title  to  heaveu;  does  not  imply  the  extinction  of  all 
necessity  for  good  works  in  our  character  and  qualification 
for  heaven.  In  other  w^ords,  in  the  matter  of  justification, 
our  own  works  must  all  be  pronounced  as  filthy  rags,  utterly 
unavailing  ;  whereas,  in  the  matter  of  sanctification,  they  are 
the  evidence  of  our  growing  fitness  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

It  is  as  essential  that  the  Spirit  of  God  should  make  me 
fit  for  the  company  in  which  I  am  to  spend  eternity,  as  that 
the  Son  of  God  should  impute  to  me  his  righeousness,  and 
wash  me  from  my  sins,  to  enable  me  to  dwell  in  the  presence 
of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  for  ever.  And,  therefore,  just 
with  the  same  earnestness  wath  which  the  inspired  writers 
insist  upon  the  absolute  exclusion  of  all  our  good  deeds 
from  the  matter  of  our  justification,  they  insist  upon  the  con- 
tinual practice  of  all  good  works,  as  the  exponent  and  evi- 
dence of  our  fitness  or  qualification  for  heaven.  Some,  how- 
ever, have  thought  that  there  is  one  passage  at  least,  in  one 
of  the  Gospels,  which  seems  contradictory  to  the  view  wdiich 
I  have  endeavored  to  prove,  namely,  that  which  describes 
the  young  man  who  came  to  our  Lord,  and  a.sked  the  ques- 
tion, "  Good  Master,  what  must  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ? 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?  there  is 
none  good "  —  (in  that  absolute  sense  in  which  the  Jews 
used  it) — "there  is  none  good  but  God;"  (and  therefore 
Jesus  said,  —  Your  addressing  to  me  the  epithet  Good  is 
truly  attributing  to  me  the  character  of  God.)  "  Thou  know- 
est  the  commandments.  Do  not  kill :  Do  not  steal :  Do  not 
bear  false  witness :  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother.  And 
he  said,  All  these  things  have  I  kept  from  my  youth  up." 
Perhaps  he  did  not  know  his  own  heart  well  enough :  but 


156  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

our  Lord  took  him  at  his  word ;  he  said,  I  will  not  now  dis- 
pute that  you  have  observed  ail  these  from  your  youth. 
*'  And  Jesus  beholding  him,  loved  him,  and  said  unto  him, 
Yet  one  thing  thou  lackest :  Go  thy  way,  sell  whatsoever  thou 
hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in 
heaven  :  and  come,  take  up  thy  cross,  and  follow  me."  You 
have  observed  most  strictly  the  six  commandments  of  the 
Decalogue  which  refer  to  your  conduct  towards  your  neighbor. 
How  do  you  treat  the  first  four?  Here  is  the  turning  point 
where  you  are  called  upon  to  show  your  love  to  God.  The 
whole  law  is  summed  up  in  two  commandments  ;  first,  "  Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all 
thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength  ;  " 
the  next  is,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  The 
last  you  have  done  perfectly,  you  say  ;  you  are  now  called 
upon  to  show  your  obedience  to  the  first.  If  you  have  suc- 
ceeded in  the  first  as  you  have  triumphed  in  the  last,  you 
are  a  perfect  character,  and  have  a  perfect  title  to  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  "  And  when  the  young  man  heard  that 
saying,  he  went  away  grieved,  for  he  had  great  possessions." 
He  could  not  sacrifice  all  for  Christ's  sake.  In  other  words, 
he  showed,  by  this  preference  of  the  unrighteous  mgmmon 
to  the  good  God,  that  he  had  broken  the  law  in  the  first  and 
weightiest  commandment,  and  therefore  he  could  not  de-serve 
heaven  by  his  own  doings.  Our  Lord  tested,  in  order  to 
humble,  the  young  man.  It  is,  then,  the  Scriptural  doctrine, 
that  whilst  there  is  nothing  of  merit  in  the  works  performed 
by  us,  yet  the  reward  of  glory  will  have  a  reference  to  those 
good  works  as  done  by  believers. 

For  it  certainly  cannot  be  without  meaning  that  we  find 
almost  every  reference  to  the* judgment-day  implying  the 
reward  of  works,  and  almost  every  statement  of  the  appor- 
tionments of  that  day  meted  out  according  to  the  nature,  the 
amount,  the  character,  and  the  extent  of  those  works.  See 
that   very   beautiful    passage,   "  Come,   ye   blessed   of   my 


MATTHEW   XVI.  157 

Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world  :  for  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me 
meat :  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink :  I  was  a  stran- 
ger, and  ye  took  me  in :  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  :  I  was 
sick,  and  ye  visited  me  :  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto 
me.  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  and  say  unto  him, 
Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  and  fed  thee  ?  "  and  so 
on.  "  And  these  shall  go  into  everlasting  hfe."  We  have 
next  the  statement  in  my  text,  that  "  He  shall  reward  every 
man  according  to  his  works."  We  also  know  the  declara- 
tion of  our  Lord,  that  every  one  shall  be  rewarded  accord- 
ing to  his  works.  Then  we  read  in  2  John  8,  "  Look  to 
yourselves,  that  ye  receive  a  full  reward."  Again,  in  Matt. 
X.  40,  there  is  a  clear  intimation  of  the  difference  of  reward  : 
"  He  that  receiveth  you  receiveth  me  ;  and  he  that  receiveth 
me  receiveth  Him  that  sent  me.  He  that  receiveth  a 
prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall  receive  a  prophet's 
reward  ;  and  he  that  receiveth  a  righteous  man  in  the  name 
of  a  righteous  man,  shall  receive  a  righteous  man's  reward. 
And  whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  these  little 
ones  a  cup  of  cold  water  only,  in  the  name  of  a  disciple, 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall  in  nowise  lose  his  reward." 
Now  notice  the  gradations :  first,  the  reception  of  Christ  is 
spoken  of  as  being  followed  by  the  great  reward ;  next,  the 
reception  of  a  prophet  is  followed  by  the  enjoyment  of 
a  prophet's  reward ;  then  the  reception  to  hospitality  and 
homage  of  a  righteous  man  is  followed  by  a  righteous  man's 
reward ;  and  lastly,  the  gift  of  a  cup  of  cold  water,  given  in 
the  right  spirit,  and  with  the  right  motive,  shall  not  be  with- 
out its  corresponding  reward.  Thus  there  are  degrees  and 
grades  of  glory  indicated  here.  There  are  diversities  of 
reward  —  "one  star  differing  from  another  star  in  glory  ;  " 
each  vessel  full,  but  each  vessel  of  capacity  larger  or  less 
than  the  other. 

Now  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  nothing  legal  in  coming 
U 


158  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

to  the  conclusion  that  the  rewards  of  heaven  will  be  pro- 
portioned to  our  attainments  upon  earth.  True,  love  is  the 
great  motive  constraining  us  to  whatever  things  are  pure, 
and  just,  and  lovely  ;  but  because  it  is  the  great  motive,  it  is 
not  the  exclusive  one.  Our  Lord  looks  for  the  noblest  alle- 
giance and  sacrifice  as  the  fruits  of  love,  but  he  fosters  and 
stimulates  the  production  of  those  fruits  by  the  prospects 
of  reward  according  to  the  attainments  we  have  made. 

Union  to  Christ's  body  as  a  living  member  is  our  safety; 
but  the  place  which  we  are  to  occupy  in  that  body,  a  hand, 
or  a  foot,  is  no  doubt  what  we  depend  upon,  in  some  degree, 
for  the  progress  and  perfection  to  which  we  shall  have  risen 
by  grace.  So  there  are  degrees  of  suffering  among  the 
damned ;  for  the  servant  beaten  Avitli  few  stripes  is  the 
figure  employed  to  denote  a  less  degree  of  suffering ;  and 
one  beaten  with  many  stripes  is  the  figurative  expression 
for  a  greater  degree  of  suffering. 

In  like  manner,  we  conclude  there  are  different  degreei 
of  joy,  felicity,  and  reward  among  the  saved  ;  and  these  are 
degrees  of  enjoyment  differing  according  to  the  capacity  of 
each  vessel,  and  the  fitness  of  each  character  for  it. 


Note.  — The  Herodians  were  more  a  political  than  a  religious  sect, 
the  dependants  and  supporters  of  the  dynasty  of  Herod,  for  the  most 
part  Sadducees  in  religions  sentiment.  These,  though  directly  op- 
posed to  the  Pharisees,  were  yet  united  with  them  in  their  persecution 
of  our  Lord  (see  ch.  xxii.  16  ;  Mark  iii.  6) ;  and  their  leaven  was  the 
same  —  hypocrisy  —  however  it  might  be  disguised  by  external  differ- 
ence of  sentiment.     They  were  all  unbelievers  at  heart. 

The  confession  is  not  made  in  the  terms  of  the  other  answer :  it  is 
not  "  We  say,"  or  "  I  say,"  but  "  Thou  art ;  "  it  is  the  expression  of 
an  inward  conviction  wrought  by  God's  Spirit.  The  excellence  of 
this  confession  is,  that  it  brings  out  both  the  human  and  divine  nature 
of  the  Lord  :  6  Xpcorbc  is  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  David,  the  anointed 


MATTHEW    XVI.  159 

King ;  6  Ttbg  tov  Qeov  rov  ^iovTog  is  the  eternal  Son,  begotten  of  the 
eternal  Father,  as  the  last  word  most  emphatically  implies,  —  not 
"  Son  of  God  "  in  any  inferior  figurative  sense,  —  not  one  of  the  sons 
of  God  of  angelic  nature,  —  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  having  in  him 
the  sonship  and  the  divine  nature  in  a  sense  in  which  they  could  l)e  in 
none  else. 

[22.]  The  same  Peter  who  but  just  now  had  made  so  noble  and 
spiritual  a  confession,  and  received  so  high  a  blessing,  now  shoAvs  the 
weak  and  carnal  side  of  his  character,  becomes  a  stumbling-block  in 
the  way  of  his  Lord,  and  earns  the  very  rebuff  with  which  the  tempter 
before  him  had  been  dismissed.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  improbable  in 
this,  as  Schleiermacher  would  have  us  believe.  (Translation  of  the 
Essay  on  St.  Luke,  p.  153.)  The  expression  of  spiritual  faith  may, 
and  frequently  does,  precede  the  betraying  of  carnal  weakness ;  and 
never  is  this  more  probable  than  when  the  mind  has  just  been  uplifted, 
as  Peter's  was,  by  commendation  and  lofty  promise. 


CHAPTER     XVII 


TRAXSFIG  URATIOK. 


We  have,  first  of  all,  the  representation,  or  rather  the 
strict  and  literal  narrative  —  for  it  is  not  a  myth  —  of  that 
great  event  called,  and  popularly  known,  by  the  name  of 
the  Transfiguration  of  the  Lord  of  glory.  We  read  that  on 
this  mount,  —  and  it  is  doubtful  what  mountain  it  was, 
though  usually  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  Mount  Tabor, — 
there  appeared  with  him  Moses,  the  representative  of  the 
Law,  and  Elijah,  who  personated  the  Prophets,  deputies 
apparently  from  both,  to  attest  the  Messiah ;  and  they  ap- 
peared with  him  in  the  shining  glory  in  which  he  shone, 
bright  "  as  the  sun,"  and  his  raiment  "  white  as  the  light ; " 
or,  in  the  language  of  Mark,  "  w^hite  as  snow ;  so  as  no 
fuller  on  earth  can  white  them." 

When  the  apostles  saw  this  sight,  which  dazzled  Peter, 
"  a  bright  cloud  overshadowed  them  "  (the  very  clouds  of 
Christianity  are  lined  with  light),  and  a  voice  came  out  of 
the  cloud ;  and  that  voice  pointed  not  to  Elijah,  nor  did  it 
specify  Moses,  but  withdrew  attention  from  each  of  tliem 
on  whom  the  w^ondering  eyes  of  the  disciples  were  fixed, 
and  directed  their  attention  to  the  Son  of  God  alone.  In 
the  brightest  throng  that  Object  ever  must  be  to  a  Chris- 
tian's eye  the  central  one.  Hear  not  the  saints,  but  Jesus. 
Amid  the  glories  of  the  blessed,  the  Crucified  and  the 
Crowned  must  be,  to  a  Christian,  the  great  Object;  and 
wherever  He  is  present,  all  others  fall  into  the  shadow.  If 
subjects  of  the.  Queen  appear  to  be  presented  to  her,  before 


MATTHEW   XVII.  161 

she  comes  into  the  room,  as  some  of  you  may  have  seen, 
they  may  be  gazing  at  the  beautiful  furniture,  at  the  splen- 
did carpeting,  or  at  the  paintings  that  hang  on  the  walls ; 
but  the  instant  the  Queen  comes  every  eye  is  fixed  upon 
her.  The  evidence  that  she  is  not  there  is,  that  eyes  are 
gazing  on  other  objects ;  the  proof  that  she  is  there  is,  that 
every  loyal  subject  pays  obeisance  and  deference  to  her. 
You  may  be  sure  that  in  a  church,  where  paintings,  statues, 
images  absorb  the  thoughts  of  the  people,  the  Lord  of  the 
Temple  is  not  there ;  but  the  fact  that  these  sink  into  their 
own  shadow,  and  that  He  presents  himself  alone,  luminous, 
glorious,  impressive,  is  the  sign  that  he  is  there,  and  that  he 
is  what  he  should  be,  all  and  in  all  in  every  heart.  Tabor 
is,  so  far,  the  type  of  every  true  church. 

There  seems  to  have  been  here  a  visible  pledge,  an  abso- 
lute certainty  brought  before  the  senses,  of  that  grand  era 
when  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  in  all  his  glory,  and  the  whole 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  it.  In  order  to  give  a  foretaste  or 
a  gleam  of  that  glory,  he  lays  aside  the  garments  of  a  ser- 
vant, puts  on  for  a  transient  hour  his  coronation  robes,  and 
appears  no  more  the  Sufferer  weeping  in  Gethsemane,  but 
the  crowned,  or  at  least  the  glorified.  Prince  and  Redeemer 
upon  the  height  of  Mount  Tabor. 

This  Transfiguration,  too,  was  meant  perhaps  to  show  that 
his  death  was  not  the  result  of  sin  or  of  necessity ;  that  if 
he  died,  they  must  not  conclude  that  he  had  not  power  to 
avert  the  death  which  was  rapidly  approaching  him.  He 
showed  them  by  that  vision  that  all  power  in  heaven  and 
earth  was  his,  that  all  the  splendors  of  the  skies  might  be 
his  retinue,  and  that  all  the  angels  and  archangels  around 
the  throne  might  be,  if  he  pleased  to  summon  them,  his  im- 
mediate ministry.  This  was  to  teach  them  that  that  death, 
of  which  he  had  told  them  before,  was  not  inevitable 
because  of  his  weakness,  but  because  of  his  love :  "  I  lay 
down  my  life,  that  I  might  take  it  again.     No  man  taketh  it 


162  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  power  to  lay  it 
down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again.  This  command- 
ment have  I  received  of  my  Father."  (John  x.  17,  18.)  I 
die  a  willing  substitute  for  tlie  sins  of  all  that  believe. 

This  glorious  vision,  we  read,  was  seen  by  his  own  dis- 
ciples only.  They  needed  this  special  encouragement. 
They  were  so  depressed  by  the  tidings  of  his  death,  that 
they  needed  some  strong  stimulus  to  sustain  and  invigorate 
their  fainting  and  failing  hearts.  He  therefore  shows  them 
in  this  bright  apocalypse  that  the  Crown  was  connected  with 
the  Cross  ;  that  the  Throned  One  was  very  near  to  the 
Crucified  One ;  and  that  He  who  should  sink  so  low,  that 
his  own  friends  would  ignorantly  forsake  him,  was  He,  never- 
theless, who  should  ascend  so  high  that  angels  and  archangels 
would  be  his  convoy  to  the  palace  of  the  skies,  and  be  the 
worshippers  at  his  footstool,  saying,  "  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  art 
thou  :  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  thy  glory  ! " 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  why  were  these  three  disciples 
selected  by  Jesus  to  be  witnesses  of  this  Transfiguration  ? 
I  answer,  that  sovereignty  alone  might  make  the  selection. 
God  does  many  things  of  which  we  must  be  content  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  why  or  the  wherefore.  When  he  is  pleased 
to  give  a  reason,  it  is  our  privilege  to  accept  it ;  but  when 
he  is  pleased  to  be  silent,  it  is  our  duty  to  bow  the  head  and 
acquiesce.  But  Jesus  selected  these  three,  perhaps,  because 
they  were  special  friends.  It  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  grand 
dignity  of  the  Godhead  that  was  there,  to  understand  that 
Jesus,  as  a  man,  had  friends.  The  home  of  Lazarus,  Martha, 
and  Mary  was  his  frequent  resort.  John  was  the  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved  —  not  loved  as  he  loves  you  and  me  only, 
but  whom  he  loved  as  a  special  friend.  We  sometimes  shrink 
from  speaking  of  Christ's  true  humanity.  But  exclude  sin, 
and  He  had  the  joys,  sorrows,  sympathies,  sufferings,  par- 
tialities, preferences,  love,  and  likings,  that  all  humanity  is 
penetrated  witb.     He  was  truly  man,  just  as  you  and  I  are, 


MATTHEW    XVII.  ISo 

sin  excepted ;  but  that  is  but  the  profile  of  his  face :  look 
on  the  other  side,  and  you  see  that  He  was  truly  God,  just 
as  God  the  Father  is.  It  may  have  been  that  he  selected 
three  special  friends  to  be  the  witnesses  of  his  special  glory. 
But  there  may  have  been  another  reason.  These  three 
are  called  by  the  Apostle  Paul  "  pillars  "  of  the  Church  — 
that  is,  eminent,  distinguished,  and  singularly  excellent  men  ; 
and  these  three  are  distinguished  in  history  by  certain  fea- 
tures, that  do  not  give  them  a  precedence  of  jurisdiction, 
but,  if  you  like,  a  precedence  of  dignity,  making  them  at 
least  primi  inter  pares,  that  is,  first  among  equals.  Peter 
was  the  first  to  confess  Christ  —  there  was  his  dignity ;  but 
yet,  alas,  alas !  he  was  the  first  to  dissuade  Christ  from  dying — 
there  was  the  signature  of  his  frailty.  He  was  selected, 
therefore,  partly  because  of  his  confession,  which  was  privi- 
lege,—  partly  because  of  his  faihng,  which  needed  to  be 
corrected.  James,  another  who  was  here  selected,  was  the 
first  apostle  who  was  martyred.  He  was  in  the  van  of  the 
noble  army  of  martyrs,  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  prophets, 
the  glorious  company  of  the  apostles.  John,  the  third,  was 
the  teacher,  as  his  whole  Gospel  intimates  of  the  essential 
Deity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Gospel  of  St,  Mat- 
thew was  written  primarily  for  the  Jew,  and  therefore  it 
teaches  Christ's  humanity.  The  dilficulty  of  the  Jew  was 
very  different  from  the  difl&culty  of  the  Socinian.  You  can- 
not get  the  Socinian  to  believe  that  Christ  is  God,  but  the 
Jew  had  no  doubt  that  the  Messiah  was  God ;  the  difficulty 
was  to  persuade  him  that  He  had  become  man.  The  Gos- 
pel of  John  was  written,  not  for  the  Jew  only,  but  for  all 
Catholic  Christendom  ;  and  therefore  this  Gospel  enunciates 
with  singular  power  the  glory  of  the  Deity  of  Jesus.  "  We 
beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth."  And  these  three,  too, 
were  selected  to  witness  that  agony  and  bloody  sweat  in  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane ;  and  they  needed  to  see  this  great 


164  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

glory,  that  they  might  descend  from  the  Mount,  and  be  pre- 
pared to  endure  that  so  great  agony.  Every  man  must  first 
be  on  Tabor,  in  order  that  he  may  endure  when  he  comes 
into  his  Gethsemane.  We  need  the  strength  of  the  one, 
that  we  may  be  able  to  pass  triumphantly  through  the  pains 
and  the  agonies  of  the  other. 

Having  seen  these  reasons,  all  of  which  may  be  true, 
some  of  which  must  be  true,  let  me  ask  why  he  selected  a 
mountain  for  this.  Jesus  preached  on  a  mountain  ;  he  fre- 
quently retired  to  a  mountain  to  pray ;  he  was  crucified  on 
a  mountain ;  he  ascended  from  a  mountain.  There  seems 
something  remarkable  in  this.  Perhaps  for  this  sole  rea- 
son, that  the  mountain  height  was  more  insulated  from  the 
crowd  that  was  around  its  base  ;  it  was  more,  as  it  were, 
above  the  noise  and  the  din  of  this  world.  I  know  not  more 
silent  or  sequestered  spots  than  the  crags  of  some  of  our 
Scottish  hills  ;  and  I  cannot  conceive  a  scene  that  more 
reveals  the  insignificance  of  man  as  he  is,  and  the  awful 
masnificence  of  Him  who  is  throned  on  the  riches  of  the 
universe,  than  such  a  seat,  in  the  quiet  sunshine,  and  with 
an  enlightened  mind  and  a  meditative  lieart,  v/ell  and  prayer- 
fully to  ponder  over  it.  When  Jesus  went  up  into  these 
mountains,  it  must  have  been  mainly  ibr  the  seclusion  and 
the  quiet  of  the  scene.  But,  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor 
in  that,  are  we  to  worship  the  Father.  Pi-ayer  is  no  more 
acceptable  on  Mount  Calvary,  or  Mount  Tabor,  or  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  at  this  moment,  than  it  would  be  upon  any  peaks 
of  the  Alps.  It  is  not  place  that  gives  consecration  to 
prayer  ;  it  is  prayer  that  gives  consecration  to  all  space  :  for 
wherever  there  is  the  praying  heart,  there  is  the  prayer 
hearing  God.  That  man  worships  on  a  mountain  far  above 
the  world,  vAio  withdraws  from  it.  He  prays  in  his  closet, 
who  prays  with  his  heart ;  and  he  prays  in  the  streets,  yet 
without  ostentation,  who  prays  in  the  midst  of  tumults,  and 
worldly  cares  and  anxieties  within. 


MATTHEW   XVII.  165 

We  read  that  Jesus  prayed  before  liis  transfiguration.  He 
brought  them  into  this  mountain  ;  and  we  are  told  in  the  9th 
of  Mark,  and  in  the  Pth  of  Luke,  that  there  had  been  a 
special  season  of  prayer  before.  How  strange  it  seems  to 
us  that  the  Son  of  God,  the  brightness  of  the  Father's 
glory,  should  pray  !  And  yet,  he  prayed  just  as  we  do,  and 
prayed  in  an  agony,  we  are  told,  on  another  occasion.  He 
had  deep  w^ants  that  needed  to  be  replenished  ;  he  had  poig- 
nant sorrows  that  needed  consolation ;  he  had  trials  he 
needed  strength  in ;  and  therefore,  the  Great  Believer 
prayed,  that  we  too  might  pray.  And  never,  to  my  mind, 
did  he  appear  so  great  and  glorious,  as  when  he  knelt  down 
upon  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  the  twelve  ignorant,  erring 
apostles  kneeling  with  him,  and  He,  their  spokesman,  say- 
ing, "Our  Father,  which  art  in  Heaven."  If  Jesus  prayed 
for  what  he  knew  must  come,  should  not  we  pray  for  what  we 
are  certain,  if  good  for  us,  God  will  grant  ?  It  is  God's 
law  that  you  should  ask.  I  know  the  sceptic  will  reason, 
"  If  God  intends  to  give  it,  he  will ;  and  if  he  does  not,  no 
power  will  alter  it."  That  may  be  very  fine  metaphysics,  fit 
for  Scotch  metaphysicians  to  discuss ;  but  we  have  learned 
from  our  Bibles  "  to  pray  always,"  and  that  earnest  prayer 
wnll  always  be  followed  by  great  and  precious  blessings.  And 
therefore,  we  will  leave  the  metaphysicians  at  the  bottom  of 
the  hill,  while  with  Abraham  and  Isaac  we  go  to  the  moun- 
tain top,  and  address  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  said,  Jesus  "  was  transfigured  be- 
fore them."  Mark  says,  "  His  raiment  became  shining, 
exceeding  white  as  snow;  so  as  no  fuller  on  earth  can 
white  them."  His  garment  was  changed,  and  his  counte- 
nance shone  like  the  sun.  No  wonder.  He  was  the  Sun 
of  righteousness.  His  body  was  the  same  as  ours ;  but 
there  was  around  it  an  aureole  of  glory  and  of  beauty,  indi- 
cating that  this  poor  weeping  sufferer  on  earth  had  connec- 
tion with   God  and  with  the   skies,  and  teachino-  us  this 


16G  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

blessed  truth,  that  that  body  which  we  commit  to  the  dust 
shall  be  like  his  glorious  body.  Jacob's  Rachel,  whose 
dust  sleeps  beneath  the  green  sods  of  Palestine,  shall  rise, 
and  her  body  shall  be  like  this  glorious  body ;  and  our  dead 
dust  that  we  have  committed  to  the  tomb  in  the  hope  of  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  shall  all  be  quickened,  raised,  and 
made  like  unto  his  glorious  body.  And  no  doubt  this  trans- 
fisruration  was  to  give  us  an  idea  what  the  resurrection 
shall  be,  and  also  to  give  us  some  perception  of  what  the 
future  glory  and  happiness  of  the  saints  is.  It  was,  as  it 
were,  the  cloud  rolled  away  for  a  little,  that  we  might  see 
the  gorgeous  splendors  that  were  behind  it.  It  was  a  gate 
opened  in  this  poor  crypt  of  human  life,  that  we  might  look 
up  into  the  grand  cathedral,  and  hear  the  anthem  peal,  and 
witness  that  glory  that  man's  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  his  ear 
heard,  and  that  man's  heart  hath  not  for  a  moment  other- 
wise conceived. 

But  we  read  that  along  with  Jesus  there  appeared  Moses 
and  Elijah.  What  was  their  function,  and  why  did  they 
appear  ?  I  answer.  To  be  competent  witnesses  of  the  spec- 
tacle that  was  then  presented ;  probably  to  return  to  the 
choirs  of  the  blessed,  and  tell  them  what  they  had  seen ; 
but  more  probably  still,  to  testify,  Moses,  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  law,  that  Jesus  is  the  Prophet,  w^ho,  he  said, 
should  come  after  him,  and  whom  they  should  obey  in  all 
things  —  and  Elijah,  as  the  representative  of  ancient  proph- 
ecy, that  all  the  prophecies  meet  and  mingle,  and  are  mag- 
nified in  Christ.  And  thus,  the  law  points  with  the  finger 
of  Moses,  and  all  the  prophets  point  with  the  finger  of 
Elijah,  to  the  Lamb  of  God  as  the  great  substance  of  the 
law's  foreshadows,  as  the  great  echo  of  the  promises  of 
prophecy,  as  the  woman's  seed  who  shall  bruise  the  ser- 
pent's head,  the  great  Messiah,  the  glory  of  his  people 
Israel.  And  thus  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  are 
one ;  the  types  and  the  shadows  are  all  met  in  Christ,  and 


MATTHEW    XVII.  167 

have  their  harmony  there.  I  have  often  thought  that  of  all 
inexplicable  things  the  Book  of  Leviticus  is  the  most  singu- 
larly so,  if  you  exclude  the  New  Testament.  I  should  infer 
that  the  God  who  gave  that  magnificent  epitome  of  the 
moral  law  never  could  have  condescended  to  lay  down  those 
little  and  paltry  regulations  and  rubrics  about  dresses, 
forms,  ceremonies,  and  sacrifices,  if  I  did  not  know  the  New 
Testament.  But  let  the  light  of  the  New  Testament  fall 
upon  the  Old,  —  let  a  portion  of  the  glory  of  Mount  Tabor 
struck  from  the  countenance  of  Jesus  fall  upon  the  counte- 
nance of  Moses,  and  then  I  can  see  that  the  Gospel  accord- 
ing to  Leviticus  is  as  true  as  the  Gospels  according  to  St. 
Matthew,  St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  and  St.  John.  Take  all  the 
types  and  ceremonies  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  they  re- 
mind one  of  what  you  have  seen  and  learned  at  a  watch- 
maker's board.  You  will  see  here  one,  and  there  another 
pin ;  here  a  ratchet  and  there  a  mainspring ;  and  if  you  be 
a  stranger  to  the  work,  you  can  see  neither  meaning  nor 
object  in  them.  But  the  watchmaker  puts  each  in  its  place ; 
and  what  is  the  result  ?  That  they  all  move,  and  intimate 
the  hour  of  the  day.  The  types,  ceremonies,  shadows,  and 
prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  are  like  the  fragments  of 
the  watch  ;  but  when  taken  and  put  together,  you  find  that 
there  was  a  grand  design ;  and  when  you  hear  strike  the 
epochal  hour  of  heaven  and  earth  — "  It  is  finished,"  you 
learn  what  a  great  and  consistent  preparation  was  made  for 
a  great  and  magnificent  result.  It  is  thus,  then,  that  Elijah 
and  Moses  came  there  to  testify  that  in  Him,  who  was  the 
glory  of  Tabor,  all  was  fulfilled. 

But  let  us  see,  as  we  notice  these  two  visitants  from 
heaven,  what  it  was  they  talked  about.  Surely  they  must 
have  been  speaking,  one  would  guess,  of  the  glories  of 
heaven,  of  the  spectacles  they  had  witnessed  there,  or  of  the 
glad  scenes  in  which  they  had  taken  a  part.  No ;  their 
conversation  was  respecting  the  decease  of  Christ.     They 


168  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

talked  with  him,  we  are  told  by  Mark  and  Luke,  respecting 
his  death.  Now  how  remarkable  is  this,  that  these  two  ce- 
lestial visitants  just  come  down  from  the  unutterable  glory 
should,  when  they  conversed  together  one  with  the  other, 
and  both  with  Christ,  speak  only  of  his  decease  that  he 
should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem !  That  very  event  which 
Peter  deprecated  they  discussed.  That  very  thing  which 
the  apostles  scarcely  understood  formed  there  and  then  the 
burden  of  their  conversation.  Surely  that  was  no  mean 
death  that  was  thus  magnified.  Surely  that  was  no  mere 
martyr's  suffering  that  thus  formed  the  leading  topic  of  the 
conversation  of  the  blessed  in  glory.  And  still  amid  the 
choirs  of  the  saved  the  crucified  appears  in  the  glorified ; 
the  cross  is  not  merged,  but  rather  magnified,  in  the  splen- 
dors of  the  crown.  The  burden  of  ancient  prophecy,  as 
you  will  find  in  the  Apocalypse,  is  the  burden  of  the  songs 
of  the  redeemed  that  are  around  the  throne ;  for  they  see  a 
Lamb  just  as  if  lie  had  been  slain  ;  and  angels  and  re- 
deemed saints  say  unto  him  —  "  Thou  art  worthy ;  for  thou 
wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out 
of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation ;  and 
hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests." 

The  only  strange  incident,  almost  inexplicable  at  this 
scene  is,  that  the  disciples  should  have  slept.  Perhaps  they 
were  weary  with  watching  the  long  night ;  perhaps  it  is  to 
teach  us  how  much  frailty  mingles  wdth  our  best  and  bright- 
est moments.  How  often  have  you  been  praying  with  the 
lip,  when  the  heart  has  been  asleep !  How  often  have  you 
been  sitting  in  that  house  of  prayer,  when  the  heart  has 
been  transacting  business  elsewhere  !  How  much  have  we 
all  done  even  in  our  solemn  things  that  needs  to  be  re- 
pented of,  and  that  will,  if  we  ask  of  Him  who  knows  our 
frailties  and  remembers  that  we  are  dust,  be  completely 
forgiven. 

Let  us  learn  another  lesson  from  this,  and  that  is,  the  evi 


MATTHEW    XVII.  169 

dence  that  we  have  here,  that  the  departed  are  not  insensi- 
ble, as  some  have  said,  till  the  resurrection  morn.  You  are 
aware  that  some  persons  have  tried  to  prove  that  when 
death  takes  place  there  is  total  insensibility  or  suspension 
of  consciousness  until  the  first  trump  of  the  resurrection 
morn.  Now  this  is  only  a  sort  of  diluted  Popish  purgatory. 
The  Roman  Catholic  says  that  the  dead  suffer  in  purgatory 
between  death  and  the  resurrection.  A  little  milder  form 
of  this  creed  is,  that  they  remain  insensible  till  the  resur- 
rection. But  if  either  of  these  notions  be  true,  what  am  I 
to  understand  by  the  Apostle  Paul  saying  —  "  We  are  con- 
fident, I  say,  and  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body, 
and  to  be  present  with  the  Lord  ?  "  (2  Cor.  v.  8.)  What 
did  he  mean  by  saying  —  "To  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to 
die  is  gain.  But  if  I  live  in  the  flesh,  this  is  the  fruit  of 
my  labor :  yet  what  I  shall  choose  I  wot  not.  For  I  am  in 
a  strait  betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be 
with  Christ ;  which  is  far  better  ?  "  (Phil.  i.  21-23.)  What 
is  the  meaning  of  the  benediction  —  "Blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth :  Yea,  saith  the 
Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors,"  —  not  remain 
insensible  ?  The  body  becomes  insensible  enough  ;  but  the 
body  itself  is,  properly  speaking,  a  mere  machine,  and  noth- 
ing more.  This  that  you  see  is  not  I ;  it  is  only  what  God 
has  given  me  to  enable  me  to  communicate  with  .this  mate- 
rial world,  in  which  I  must  sojourn  for  a  little  season.  And 
whenever  the  soul  is  fit  for  its  translation,  then,  just  as  the 
petal  drops  when  the  fruit  is  formed,  and  the  leaf  withers 
when  the  tree  has  completed  its  cycle,  so  this  body  drops 
off,  is  laid  in  the  grave,  and  there,  in  that  KoifiTjTT/piov,  or  sleep- 
ing place,  in  "  God's  acre,"  as  the  Germans  call  it,  it  re- 
poses until  a  sound  pierces  the  stony  pyramid,  the  mauso- 
leum, and  the  green  turf,  and  Pharaoh  shall  come  from  his 
chamber,  and  the  peasant  from  his  resting-place,  and  the 
lost  sailor  from  beneath  the  waves,  and  the  soldier  from 
15 


170  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

beneath  the  battle  field,  to  give  an  account  of  the  deeds 
done  in  the  body,  whether  they  have  been  good,  or  whether 
they  have  been  evil.  But  1  do  hot  beHeve  there  is  in  dying 
the  least  suspension  of  the  continuity  of  consciousness.  On 
the  contrary,  when  you  think  the  dying  person  is  becoming 
insensible,  I  believe  that  he  is  becoming  truly  sensible. 
Just  when  to  us  he  seems  nearest  dying,  I  believe  that  he  is 
then  becoming  more  and  more  conscious  of  truly  living. 
Persons  dying  have  given  expression  to  what  they  felt  and 
saw.  I  do  not  believe  they  were  the  dreams  of  fanaticism, 
but  realities.  As  the  outer  vestment  falls  off,  as  the  outer 
wall  becomes  thinner,  the  soul  apprehends  far  more  clearly. 
The  celestial  world  may  be  far  nearer  us  than  we  some- 
times fancy.  We  think  that  heaven  is  away  there,  or  yon- 
der, or  somewhere  else ;  it  may  be  just  a  higher  region  of 
this  world.  It  may  be  that  the  saved  are  chanting  hymns 
beside  us  that  we  cannot  hear ;  and  that  they  are  now  car- 
rying on  a  conversation  that  we  cannot  appreciate  ;  and  that 
our  dead  in  Christ  may  be  nearer  you  and  me  at  this  mo- 
ment than  our  relatives  across  the  Channel,  or  at  the  other 
side  of  the  Tweed.  They  may  be  so  near,  that  they  can 
see  and  hear  us ;  but  yet,  we  can  neitlier  see,  hear,  nor 
know  them.  At  all  events,  Moses  and  Elias,  who  came 
forth  at  Mount  Tabor,  showed  that  there  was  at  least  a  pos- 
sibility of  communion  between  the  dead  in  Christ  and  the 
living  in  Christ,  both  constituting  together  but  one  holy  and 
happy  group. 

We  read  that  very  shortly  after  they  appeared,  they 
departed.  Why  did  they  depart  ?  Their  function  was  done. 
They  deposited  the  seals  of  their  office  at  the  feet  of  Christ, 
and  returned  to  their  everlasting  happiness.  They  came 
up,  like  the  ministers  of  the  sovereign,  to  surrender  the 
seals  of  office  they  had  received,  and  to  retire  to  that  happi- 
ness that  they  have  for  ever  with  the  Lord. 

Now,  you    will  notice  that    the    apostles,  seeing  Moses 


MATTHEW   XVII.  171 

and  Elijah,  did  not  pray  to  them ;  they  prayed  to  Christ 
alone.  If  ever  there  was  an  occasion  when  saints  might  be 
prayed  to,  this  was  it ;  for  here  the  saints  were  not  to  be 
guessed  to  be  hearing,  but  were  seen  to  be  within  both  hear- 
ing and  seeing.  If,  therefore,  it  were  ever  competent  to 
pray  to  glorified  saints,  it  was  upon  Mount  Tabor.  But  the 
disciples  prayed  only  to  Jesus,  and  that  in  a  matter  affect- 
ing Moses  and  Elijah  :  for  Peter  said  —  "  Lord,  it  is  good  for 
us  to  be  here :  if  thou  wilt,  let  us  make  here  three  taber- 
nacles ;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias." 
They  did  not  pray  to  Moses,  — "  Wilt  thou  permit  us  to 
build  thee  a  temple  ? "  but  they  prayed  only  to  Jesus,  in  a 
matter  that  concerned  Moses  and  Elias :  thus  showing  that 
w^e  may  neither  now  nor  then  worship  and  pray  to  saints, 
because  Christ  is  all  and  in  all.  If  Christ  be  what  all 
Scripture  pronounces  him  to  be,  then  we  can  do  without  the 
broken  cistern,  seeing  we  have  access  to  the  full  fountain. 
What  is  the  use  of  a  farthing  taper  candle  amid  the  light  of 
the  glorious  sun  ?  What  is  the  use  of  the  stars,  when  the 
sun  is  above  the  horizon  ?  If  Christ  be  in  his  Church,  — 
and  where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  his  name  he  is 
present,  —  I  want  no  one  to  help  me,  or  to  sympathize  with 
me,  to  pray  to,  or  to  praise  ;  for  he  is  all  and  in  all  in  my 
affections,  and  he  must  be  so  in  all  our  prayers,  and  praises, 
and  worship. 

"  Let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles,"  said  Peter.  Now, 
in  this  there  was  much  indicative  of  piety,  and  much  also 
indicative  of  human  frailty.  Peter  would  be  at  any  labor 
in  order  to  build  a  tabernacle  for  his  blessed  Master,  and  he 
would  not  do  it  without  his  Master's  consent ;  for  he  says  — 
"  If  thou  will,  let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles."  There 
was  something  most  unselfish  and  charitable  in  this  conduct 
of  Peter;  and  yet  there  was  great  infirmity  in  it:  for  we 
are  told  tliat  he  knew  not  what  he  said.  He  was  evidently 
bewildered   and  dazzled   by  the  splendor  of  the  spectacle, 


172  SCRirTURE    READINGS. 

and  gave  expression  in  the  high  impetuosity  of  his  feelings 
to  thoughts,  imaginations,  and  dreams,  that  he  knew  not  the 
drift,  object,  nor  origin  of.  Under  the  same  excitement  he 
once  said  —  "  Lord,  depart  from  me  ;  "  and  on  this  occasion, 
under  excitement,  he  said —  "  Lord,  let  us  make  here  three 
tabernacles."  His  great  sin  evidently  was,  that  he  looked  for 
permanence  on  Mount  Tabor.  He  did  not  regard  it  as  a 
momentary  burst  of  sunshine  in  a  lonely  and  a  black  night, 
but  he  regarded  it  as  a  permanent  heaven  where  he  might 
dwell  for  ever.  He  could  not  bear  the  idea  that  Calvary 
must  still  be  borne,  that  Gethsemane  must  still  be  moistened 
with  a  Saviour's  tears,  that  the  bitter  cup  must  still  be 
drunk  ;  and  it  is  as  if  he  had  said  —  "  Now,  Lord,  we  have 
got  uj)on  a  sunny  spot ;  let  us  not  go  down  into  that  dark 
valley  that  is  below.  Let  us  build  three  tabernacles  where 
we  may  live  and  worship  for  ever."  He  would,  like  most  of  us, 
have  the  crown  without  the  cross.  He  would  have  heaven 
without  the  tribulation.  He  would  have  all  the  happiness 
without  the  tears,  the  pangs,  the  sorrows,  that  in  the  case  of 
the  Son  of  God  were  the  only  purchase  of  it.  How  much 
of  Peter  is  in  us  all !  "We  often  fancy  that  some  bright  day 
that  dawns  upon  us  will  last  for  ever,  and  we  act  accord- 
ingly. We  are  placed,  perhaps,  in  domestic  circumstances 
of  sunshine  and  of  happiness ;  and  we  say  to  ourselves  — • 
"  This  will  last  for  ever."  Ah  !  hearths  that  are  now  bright 
will  one  day  be  black  enough  ;  merry  voices  that  now  ring 
beneath  a  Christmas  roof  tree  will  soon  be  clioked  with 
sorrow,  or  end  in  bitter  weeping.  Forms  that  cross  the 
threshold  will  soon  cross  it  no  more  :  and  footfalls  that  jire 
now  sweet  music  to  the  iiunates  will  be  heard  in  that  house 
no  more  :  and  well-known  faces  will  become  strange,  and  all 
the  splendor  of  the  domestic  Tabor  that  is  now,  will  be 
exchanged  for  the  tears,  the  sorrows,  and  the  sadness  of 
Gethsemane  that  will  be.  Let  us  feel  that  life's  brightest 
spots  are  but  transient  Tabors ;  that  our  best  blessings  are 


MATTHEW   XVII.  173 

but  bright  intervals  of  joy,  not  to  detain  us  here,  but  to 
strengthen  us  to  set  out  with  brave  hearts  and  with  earnest 
feelings,  to  tread  life's  long  road,  pilgrims  and  strangers, 
looking  for  the  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 
But  let  us  rejoice  that  a  Tabor  is  yet  to  come,  that  shall  have 
no  transience,  the  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 
And  meantime,  let  us  try  to  make  every  Sabbath  day  a 
Tabor,  every  Communion  a  transfiguration,  and  to  carry 
forth  the  glory  that  we  receive  on  the  holy  mount  into  all 
life's  duties,  that  its  most  desert  places  may  thus  be  refreshed 
and  strengthened  by  our  provision  on  the  Sunday  ;  and  that, 
cheered  and  animated  by  the  vision  that  has  swept  before 
us,  we  may  go  with  Christ  whithersoever  he  leads,  minding 
less  the  sorrow  or  the  joy,  the  Tabor  or  the  Gethsemane, 
but  only  making  sure  that  we  are  his,  and  of  them  who 
through  faith  in  Him  inherit  the  promises. 

15* 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE  GLORY  AND  THE  CLOUD — THE  VOICE  OF  JESUS  THE  BELOVED 
—  HEAR  HIM. 

Peter,  not  knowing  what  he  said,  proposed  that  there 
should  be  permanence  where  there  was  meant  only  to  be 
transcience,  thinking  that  Mount  Tabor  had  become  an  out- 
post of  heaven  itself:  "While  he  yet  spake,  a  bright  cloud 
overshadowed  them."  No  doubt  it  was  the  shechinah,  which 
means,  "  the  dwelHng-place,"  or  the  cloud  that  marched  in 
the  wilderness,  as  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  a  pillar  of 
fire  by  night,  and  that  filled  the  temple,  and  became  the 
dwelling-place,  where  ever  burned  and  shone  the  glory  of  a 
present  and  a  propitious  God.  Perhaps,  as  Peter  was  daz- 
zled by  the  excessive  splendor  of  the  scene,  the  cloud  was 
vouchsafed  in  kindness,  to  soften  and  to  mitigate  the  intense 
light.  It  is  said  that  he  was  bewildered  and  dazzled,  and 
something  was  needed  to  intervene  and  to  subdue  the  other- 
Avise  insupportable  glory.  The  great  God  we  cannot  now, 
but  we  shall  hereafter  see  as  he  is.  In  the  magnificent  lan- 
guage of  Plato,  the  greatest  of  heathen  writers,  "  God  is 
truth,  and  the  bright  light  is  his  shadow."  "  Whom  no  man 
hath  seen,"  we  may  add,  "  nor  can  see." 

Or,  perhaps,  the  cloud  was  vouchsafed  to  separate  Elijah 
and  Moses  from  Peter,  who  longed  to  have  them  as  his  fel- 
low worshippers  upon  the  Mount  for  ever.  We  know  that 
a  cloud  carried  Jesus  at  his  ascension  out  of  sight.  It  is  in 
the  original,  ^'■the  cloud;     and  the  same  cloud  may  have 


MATTHEW    XVII.  175 

here  interposed  to  carry  Moses  and  Elijali  far  away,  or  at 
least  to  render  them  invisible  to  the  worshippers  that  were 
outside  the  vail.  There  may  be  between  us  and  the  blessed 
in  glory  but  a  thin  partition.  There  may  be  but  a  cool- 
screen  intercepting  from  us  the  intense,  and,  to  us  here,  in- 
tolerable splendors  of  that  Sun.  It  may  be,  that  the  blessed 
in  heaven  are  nearer  us  than  we  are  to  neighboring  parish- 
ioners. It  may  be  that,  though  they  have  no  part  in  all  that 
is  under  the  sun,  and  can  take  no  duty  amid  the  scenes  and 
tribulations  of  this  world,  they  see  where  even  we  do  not 
see,  and  hear  our  praises,  and  notice  us  as  the  "  cloud  of 
witnesses,"  running  the  race  set  before  us,  "  looking  unto 
Jesus  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith."  Heaven  is  not 
a  mechanical  and  material  distance  ;  it  is  moral  and  spiritual. 
This  bright  cloud,  then,  carried  them  away,  or  separated 
them  from  Peter,  who  wished  them  to  continue,  and  be  fel- 
low worshippers  with  him  for  ever. 

We  read  that  a  voice  came  out  of  the  cloud,  and  that 
voice  Peter,  who  was  not,  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration, 
as  enlightened  and  as  holy  a  man  as  he  was  when  he  wrote 
his  Epistle,  thus  describes  (2  Pet.  i.  16, 17)  :  "We  have 
not  followed  cunningly  devised  fables,  when  we  made  known 
unto  you  the  power  and  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
but  were  eye-witnesses  of  his  majesty.  For  he  received 
from  God  the  Father  honor  and  glory,  when  there  came 
such  a  voice  to  him  from  the  excellent  glory.  This  is  my 
beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased.  And  this  voice 
which  came  from  heaven  we  heard,  when  we  were  with  him 
in  the  holy  mount."  Now  that  voice  was,  "  This  is  my  be- 
loved Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." 

It  was,  in  the  first  place,  a  distinctive  testimony.  It 
pointed  to  Jesus  as  "  the  woman's  Seed  "  predicted  to  Adam ; 
as  the  Shiloh,  of  whom  Jacob  in  his  dying  moments  spake ; 
as  the  Prince  of  peace,  the  Wonderful,  the  Counsellor,  the 
Mighty  God,  of  Isaiah ;   as  David's  Son ;    as  Abraham's 


176  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Heir ;  as  that  Divine  Being,  that  only  Mediatoi  in  whom  all 
the  promises  and  prophecies  respecting  the  Messiah  met, 
and  were  illustrated,  and  completely  fullilled.  The  voice, 
then,  was  a  distinctive  voice.  Moses  was  an  illustrious 
saint,  Elijah  was  the  prince  of  the  prophets,  John  was  a 
stern  and  solemn  reformer ;  but  all  these  must  fall  into  the 
shadow,  they  must  remain  at  the  bottom  of  the  Mount. 
"  This,"  and  this  alone,  *'  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased."  It  must  be  in  the  modern  temple,  as  it  was 
upon  the  ancient  Tabor.  Every  niche  must  be  emptied  of 
its  idol,  that  Christ,  the  only  begotten  and  beloved  Son, 
may  be  all  and  in  all. 

The  expression  applied  to  Jesus,  "  Son,"  we  cannot 
clearly  comprehend.  Angels  are  God's  sons  by  creation ; 
Christians  are  God's  sons  by  adoption ;  but  Christ  is  God's 
Son  in  a  sense  infinitely  superior  to  either.  It  may  denote, 
and  was  understood  by  the  Jews,  who  best  understood  their 
own  language  and  its  allusions,  to  denote  essential  deity;  for 
we  read  (John  v.  18),  "The  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill 
him,  because  he  not  only  had  broken  the  Sabbath,  but  said 
also  that  God  was  his  Father ; "  —  (the  Greek  word  used 
there  for  "  his "  is  Traripa  ISlov,  denoting  that  God  was  his 
Father  in  a  peculiar  sense  in  which  he  is  not  the  Father  of 
any  one  on  earth),  "  making  himself  equal  with  God."  The 
Jews,  therefore,  understood  that  when  Jesus  called  himself 
the  Son  of  God,  he  assumed  equality  with  God.  And  so  he 
did :  for  He  is  "  the  brightness  of  his  glory."  "  For,"  says 
the  apostle  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  unto  which  of 
the  angels  said  he  at  any  time.  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day 
have  I  begotten  thee  ?  And  again,  I  will  be  unto  him  a 
Father,  and  he  shall  be  to  me  a  son  ?  And  again,  when  he 
bringeth  in  the  first-begotten  into  the  world,  he  saith.  And 
let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him."  It  is  a  blessed 
thought  that  Christ  is  God.  Were  he  not  God,  I  would 
also  trust  in  Peter,  as  far  as  I  could  trust  a  human  being,  as 


MATTHEW   XVII.  177 

the  foundation  of  the  church.  But  it  needs  the  everlasting 
arms  to  be  around  us ;  it  needs  the  attributes  of  Deity  to 
sheUer  us  ;  it  needs  Omnipotent  j^ower  as  well  as  inexhaust- 
ible love  to  constitute  a  Saviour  adequate  to  the  rescue  of 
one  soul  from  the  ruins  of  the  Fall,  and  to  the  restoration  of 
that  soul  to  communion  and  fellowship  with  God.  Never 
give  up,  except  with  Christianity,  the  precious  conviction 
that  Christ  is  God.  The  poor  Romanist  corrupts  our  creed 
by  the  addition  of  all  that  is  human  ;  the  misguided  So- 
cinian  deducts  from  our  creed  all  that  is  most  precious  and 
divine  ;  the  one  adding  what  corrupts,  the  other  subtracting 
what  leaves  but  a  human  example  instead  of  a  Divine  and 
all-precious  Saviour. 

God  says  —  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well 
pleased."  Now,  God  said  over  the  earth,  when  He  had 
created  it,  that  it  was  "  very  good ; "  but  the  most  perfect 
reflection  of  Himself,  the  only  perfect  mirror  of  his  glory, 
was  Christ  Jesus.  Jesus  was  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh." 
All  that  man's  eye  can  see  of  God  is  to  be  seen  in  Christ ; 
all  that  man's  ear  can  hear  of  God,  is  to  be  heard  from 
Christ.  The  only  way  to  learn  Avhat  God  is,  and  what  he  is 
to  me,  is  to  study  that  mirror  which  reflects  most  purely  his 
glory,  and  to  listen  to  that  oracle  that  utters  most  exactly 
his  holy  and  paternal  voice.  Jesus  is  the  beloved  Son  of 
God,  in  whom  (for  it  is  the  aorist  of  the  Greek  verb)  he  has 
been,  is,  and  ever  shall  be,  well  pleased. 

Then,  because  he  is  God's  Son,  in  whom  he  is  well 
pleased,  "  hear  ye  him."  Not  Moses  and  Elijah,  both  of 
whom  were  on  the  mount.  There  cannot  be  a  clearer  testi- 
mony, than  is  contained  in  this  passage,  to  the  nature  and 
the  dignity  of  Christ's  teaching.  Hear  not  Elijah,  who  once 
spake  with  all  the  rapture  of  a  prophet ;  nor  Moses,  who 
wrote  with  all  the  majesty  of  a  lawgiver,  or  at  least  a  law 
proclaimer ;  but  hear  Christ.  In  the  writings  of  Moses,  hear 
not  Moses,  but  Christ.     In  the  words  of  Elijah,  hear  not  the 


178  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

prophet,  but  Christ.  In  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Mat- 
thew,  hear  not  the  publican,  but  hear  the  Son  of  God. 
Matthew,  Peter,  Paul,  are  the  trumpets,  but  the  breath  of 
Jesus  is  that  which  gives  them  all  their  utterance,  and  all 
their  emphasis.  Read  the  Bible,  therefore,  seeking  to  see 
and  hear  Jesus.  Some  men  read  it  to  hear  beautiful 
poetry  ;  and  they  will  get  their  reward.  Others  read  it  to 
see  exquisite  history  told  with  inimitable  simplicity;  and 
they  will  get  their  reward.  Others  read  it  to  find  the  loftiest 
morality ;  and  they  will  get  their  reward.  But  the  Chris- 
tian cannot  be  satisfied  with  the  fairest  and  most  fragrant 
flowers  of  this  garden,  till  he  find  the  Rose  of  Sharon.  He 
cannot  be  satisfied  with  the  shadow  or  the  fruit  of  any  tree 
that  grows  in  it :  he  wants  to  eat  of  that  tree,  whose  fruit  is 
for  food,  and  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations, 
and  which  grows  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  our  God. 
Therefore,  when  you  open  this  blessed  book,  remember  that 
as  Jesus  is  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  the  Bible  is  Jesus 
speaking  still  to  mankind.  Christ  is  God  incarnate ;  the 
Bible  is  truth  inspired.  The  Bible  is  the  shadow  of  himself 
he  has  left  behind ;  it  is  the  only  relic  the  Christian  Church 
contains  that  is  genuine,  and  it  is  a  most  precious  one.  It 
is  the  only  image  that  is  allowed  in  the  Church  of  Christ, 
the  very  image  and  likeness  of  God :  and  though  the  Bible 
be  the  nearest  likeness  to  God,  yet  we  must  not  worship 
even  it,  but  only  the  grand  and  blessed  original :  —  "  worship 
God." 

Judging  from  these  words,  "  Hear  ye  him,"  we  learn  we 
are  not  to  hear  the  Church.  When  we  open  the  book  of 
Revelation,  we  find  it  said,  not,  "  Hear  what  the  Church 
says,"  but,  "  Hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches," 
—  quite  the  reverse  of  the  modern  interpretation  of  the  sub- 
ject. Hear  the  Church  upon  any  matter  of  personal  dis- 
pute ;  but  on  all  doctrinal  decisions,  on  all  that  relates  to  the 
destiny  of  the  soul,  on  all  the  knowledge  that  can  guide  you, 


MATTHEW  XVII.  179 

as  a  lamp  to  your  feet  and  a  light  to  your  path,  to  everlasting 
glory,  hear,  not  the  Church,  the  often  crashing  and  mistaken 
echo,  but  hear  ye  Christ,  the  great,  musical,  and  only 
original,  —  "  hear  ye  him." 

There  are  many  reasons  for  hearing  him.  The  first  is, 
that  what  he  says  is  possessed  of  the  highest  authority.  The 
Church  has  ecclesiastical  authority  ;  the  congregation,  con- 
gregational authority ;  philosophers,  human  authority ;  but 
what  Christ  says  has  the  superscription  of  God,  and  the 
stamp)  of  divine  and  absolute  authority.  "  Never  man  spake 
like  this  man."  His  enemies  heard  in  his  words  a  distinct- 
ness and  an  emphasis,  that  made  them  say,  that  he  spoke  as 
one  having  authority,  and  not  as  the  Scribes.  If  you  want 
a  decisive  authority  to  correct  the  errors  of  private  judg- 
ment, you  have  one  that  can  be  purchased  (what  a  privi- 
lege!)  for  lOd.  or  Is.  —  the  Word  of  God.  You  do  not 
want  a  General  Council,  or  an  infallible  Pope ;  you  have 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  infallible  authority,  ever  accessi- 
ble, ever  eloquent,  and,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  ever  intel- 
ligible. He  speaks  with  authority.  The  blind,  whose  eyes 
he  opened ;  the  deaf,  whose  ears  he  unstopped ;  the  dead, 
whose  cold  dust  he  quickened  ;  the  sea,  whose  waves  he 
laid ;  the  winds,  whose  fury  he  quelled  ;  the  multitudes  he 
has  saved  by  his  grace,  and  is  conducting  to  his  glory  ;  — 
all  proclaim,  in  one  simultaneous  acknowledgment,  "  We 
know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God :  for  no  man 
can  do  these  miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with 
liim." 

In  the  second  place,  we  are  to  hear  Christ,  because  he 
speaks  on  subjects  of  the  highest  interest  and  importance. 
Truths  are  not  equally  important.  Two  and  two  are  four, 
is  a  truth  ;  the  sun  rises  and  sets,  is  a  truth ;  any  two  sides 
of  a  triangle  are  together  greater  than  the  third  side,  is  a 
truth ;  the  square  of  the  hypothenuse  of  a  right-angled  tri- 
angle is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  other  two 


180  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

sides,  is  n  truth ;  but  you  may  be  successful  in  the  world, 
and  enter  into  glory,  without  ever  having  heard  some  of 
these  truths.  If  you  want  to  learn  geology,  go  to  the 
treatises  of  Buckland  ;  or  geometrj^,  read  the  "  Principia  " 
of  Sir  Isaac  Newton ;  but  if  you  want  to  find  Christianity, 
hear  not  Buckland,  Sedgwick,  Maclaren,  nor  Euclid.  The 
great  question  that  has  perplexed  the  world  for  a  thousand 
years,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  has  its  solution  only 
in  Christ's  words.  The  great  query,  "  What  is  the  way 
that  leads  nearest  and  surest  to  heaven  ?  "  is  answered  in 
his  simple  and  majestic  utterances.  All  science,  literature, 
and  poetry,  are  earthborn  lights,  that  will  be  quenched  on 
the  margin  of  the  everlasting  world ;  but  the  light  that  has 
been  lightened  by  Christ  the  Sun  will  only  burn  the  brighter 
when  suns  shall  have  set  to  rise  no  more.  Jesus  speaks  on 
those  subjects  which  most  deeply  interest  us,  on  which  it  is 
our  greatest  anxiety  to  gain  information,  with  a  clearness, 
emphasis,  authority,  and  decision,  that  scatters  all  doubts, 
solves  all  perplexities,  and  brings  it  to  pass  that,  while 
great  scholars  may  blunder,  the  wayfaring  man,  seeking  his 
way  to  heaven  and  nothing  else,  will  not  be  permitted  to  err 
therein. 

In  the  next  place,  Christ's  voice  is  a  living  voice.  You 
have  heard  that  many  have  left  the  Protestant  Church,  be- 
cause it  has  no  living  and  speaking  tribunal.  They  say, 
"  We  cannot  learn  what  is  truth."  What  a  pity  that  they 
should  forget  so  simple  a  prescription  ^s  this,  "  Hear  ye 
Him  ! "  Jesus  speaks.  The  Bible  is,  not  only,  "  It  is  writ- 
ten," but,  "The  Spirit  saith."  "Hear  ye  Him,"  implies 
that  Jesus  speaks.  You  all  know  that  there  is  a  freshness 
and  an  eloquence  in  the  Bible  that  you  find  in  no  other 
book  upon  earth.  Very  few  poems  will  bear  to  be  often 
read,  —  very  few  books  will  bear  a  second,  still  less  a  third 
reading ;  but  this  Book,  every  time  I  read  it,  and  try  to  ex- 
plain it,  seems  to  have  a  freshness  that  never  departs ;  and, 


MATTHEW    XVII.  181 

like  sweet  music  from  the  skies,  it  comes  down  to  us  with 
all  the  force  and  beauty  of  the  original,  unspent  by  the  dis- 
tance through  which  it  has  traversed,  breaking  on  many 
hearts,  and  on  the  thi-eshold  of  many  homes,  in  the  sweet 
chimes  of  mercy  and  truth  that  have  met  together,  and 
righteousness  and  peace  that  have  kissed  each  other.  That 
righteousness  that  Avas  uttered  in  Palestine  is  heard  still  on 
the  streets  of  every  capital ;  and  no  one  can  listen  to  it, 
without  prejudice,  without  discovering  that,  as  never  man 
spake  like  that  Man,  so  never  was  book  written  to  be  com- 
pared with  this  Book  that  records  what  he  stated. 

And  what  Jesus  says  is  also  intelligible ;  and  therefore 
"hear  ye  Him."  It  would  be  a  strange  thing  if  Christ 
spake,  and  Evangelists  recorded  his  speech,  but  either  that 
he  spake  so  unintelligibly,  or  that  they  have  recorded  it  so 
imperfectly,  that  we  cannot  understand  what  he  meant.  If 
man  can  convey  his  meaning  to  man,  surely  God  can  make 
known  his  mind  to  man.  But  the  truth  is,  take  the  Bible 
as  a  whole,  and  it  is  the  most  intelligible  book.  It  is  the 
most  thorough  common  sense  ;  it  is  the  plainest  and  sim- 
plest book  that  ever  came  from  the  pen  of  man.  I  admit 
there  are  allusions  in  it  that  it  needs  historical  knowledge  to 
explain  ;  and  it  is  the  use  of  a  minister  to  study  them,  and 
tell  you  what  they  mean.  I  admit  there  are  renderings  of 
the  original  in  our  Bible  sometimes  not  so  exact  as  we 
could  wish  them.  I  admit  that  parts  of  the  Bible  are  pro- 
found ;  but  they  are  not  against  reason,  they  are  only  above 
reason  ;  and  one  must  expect  that  a  book  that  is  a  picture 
of  the  Infinite,  as  well  as  a  declaration  of  duty  for  man, 
will  contain  touches  and  sketches  that  the  finite  cannot  com- 
prehend. The  Infinite  God  must  always  be  revealed  amidst 
darkness  round  his  throne  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  we  shall 
find  in  the  epochs  of  eternity,  that  the  more  we  know  of 
God,  the  more  we  shall  see  beyond  remaining  to  be  known ; 
that  our  greatest  light  will  be  in  the  bosom  of  the  greatest 
16 


182  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

darkness,  beccaiise  an  Infinite  Being  unveiling  himself  can 
only  unveil  portions  of  bis  glory  to  finite  beings  ;  and  the 
very  splendor  of  the  part  that  is  revealed  will  only  make 
darker  the  vast  mass  of  the  obscure  and  unknown  that  re- 
mains beyond.  We  must  expect  in  the  Bible  mysteries 
that  the  highest  intellect  cannot  grasp.  If  it  had  been 
without  mystery,  it  would  have  been  without  one  great 
proof  of  its  inspiration.  But  we  may  expect  that  on  all 
questions  of  our  safety  in  the  sight  of  God,  it  will  sjieak  so 
plainly  that  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  understanding  its 
meaning.  But  while  it  speaks  intelligibly,  we  must  not  for- 
get that  it  needs  a  heart  prepared  to  understand  it  savingly. 
One  man  understands  the  Bible  theoretically ;  another  man 
understands  it  savingly.  By  the  light  of  nature  I  can  un- 
derstand this  Book  as  a  })lainly  written  and  intelligible 
book;  but  under  the  influence  of  grace  only  can  I  under- 
stand it,  so  as  it  shall  be  the  salvation  of  my  soul.  And^ 
therefore,  what  we  want,  to  get  tlie  power  of  the  Bible  felt 
in  our  hearts  and  consciences,  is  not  an  improved  Bible,  but 
an  improved  heart,  —  is  not  an  alteration  of,  nor  an  addi- 
tion to,  the  old  Book,  but  a  total  transformation  of  the  old 
heart  that  is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  The  Bible,  then, 
is  an  intelligible  book.  Christ  speaks  intelligibly  ;  there- 
fore "  hear  ye  Him." 

And  you  are  to  hear  him  also,  because  it  is  to  every 
man,  in  every  place  and  in  every  age,  that  Christ  speaks. 
He  does  not  speak  to  a  sect,  a  coterie,  a  country,  a  conti- 
nent; but  he  speaks,  in  catholic  tones,  catholic  truths  for  all 
mankind.  There  is  no  mourner  so  depressed,  that  Christ 
speaks  not  to  that  mourner's  heart.  There  is  none  so  high, 
that  he  needs  not  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  learn  the 
lessons  of  Christianity  there.  And,  blessed  be  his  Name, 
from  that  Mount  Tabor  there  goes  forth  a  voice  that  has  its 
echo  in  every  tongue,  and  a  response  from  increasing  thou- 
sands of  hearts  that  are  saved,  sanctified,  and  ennobled  by 


MATTHEW    XVir.  183 

its  influence,  and  that  will  spread,  until  the  whole  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth  are  gathered  around  the  Shiloh,  to 
learn  yet  more  the  words  that  have  led  them  to  happiness, 
peace,  and  rest. 

When  we  hear  Jesus,  we  are  to  hear  him  reverently. 
When  we  open  this  Book,  and  read  it,  we  should  remember 
that  we  are  listening  to  the  very  words  that  fell  from  the 
lips  of  God  incarnate.  This  Book  is  the  authenticated  and 
inspired  report  of  what  Jesus  stiid  and  taught  for  our  learn- 
ing. When  our  Queen  sends  a  message  to  her  Lords  and 
Commons,  they  all  rise  up,  and  w-ith  uncovered  heads  listen 
to  the  royal  mandate.  The  King  of  kings  has  sent  this 
message  to  us,  and  the  highest  lord  and  humblest  commoner 
are  equally  welcome  to  hear  it ;  and  both,  with  bov/ed  hearts 
and  reverent  minds,  ought  to  listen  to,  read,  ponder,  learn, 
and  inw^ardly  digest  it. 

We  ought  to  hear  what  Christ  says  wnth  teachable  dispo- 
sitions. "  Except  ye  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  not 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Now,  the  great  fault 
of  many  is  that  they  come  to  hear  for  others.  But  as  there 
is  no  salvation  by  proxy,  there  ought  to  be  no  hearing  by 
proxy.  Each  individual  in  the  Christian  assembly  ought  to 
feel  that  he  is  as  much  spoken  to  by  the  preacher  as  if  he 
were  the  only  individual  within  these  walls.  Preaching,  to 
do  any  good,  must  be  personal.  But  there  is  needed,  not 
only  pointed  personality  in  the  highest  and  holiest  sense  of 
that  word,  but  there  is  needed  in  the  hearer  insulation  from 
all  around  him,  and  listening,  just  as  he  will  listen  to  the 
footfall  of  the  approaching  Judge,  and  to  the  awful  words 
that  either  enfranchise  or  wither  for  ever,  "  Come,  ye 
blessed,"  or  "  Depart,  ye  cursed."  Listen  to  this  voice,  as 
it  is  emitted  from  this  oracle,  God's  holy  Word,  not,  as  crit- 
ics, to  discuss  how  the  preacher  handles  it ;  nor  as  play- 
goers, to  witness  a  fine  dramatic  spectacle ;  nor  yet  as 
opera  frequenters,  to  listen,  as  Ezekiel's  hearers  did,  to  one 


184  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

who  sings  a  beautiful  song,  or  plays  well  upon  an  instru- 
ment; but  come  as  poor,  lost,  ruined,  guilty  sinners,  sitting 
down  with  the  teachableness  of  little  children,  —  forgiving 
what  the  preacher  says,  which  has  not  its  basis  in  his  Mas- 
ter's message,  but  receiving  with  joy,  humbleness,  and  grati- 
tude what  the  preacher  speaks,  which  has  its  foundation  in 
God's  holy  Word. 

And  "  hear  ye  Him,"  with  personal,  special,  and  practical 
application.  "  Be  not,"  says  James,  "  a  forgetful  hearer, 
but  a  doer  of  the  word."  Recollect  that  you  came  to  hear 
a  sermon,  not  as  a  duty,  but  us  the  means  towards  the  dis- 
charge of  duty.  Some  persons  come  to  a  Protestant 
church,  and  sit  in  it  with  the  thorough  feeling  of  Roman 
Catholics.  They  come  to  hear  a  sermon  just  as  the  Roman 
Catholic  goes  to  hear  Mass.  They  regard  it  as  a  duty  ;  and 
think,  when  the  sermon  has  been  preached,  and  the  con- 
gregation dismissed,  that  the  duty  has  been  discharged.  It 
is  not  so.  You  come  to  hear  the  minister's  prescriptions, 
that  you  may  go  out  and  carry  it  into  practice.  The  ser- 
mon is  but  begun  when  it  is  finished ;  and  it  has  only  been 
heard  as  Christ's  voice  should  be  heard,  when  you  translate 
the  preacher's  address  into  the  every-day  practical  life  of 
this  hard,  weary,  and  working  world.  The  sermons  you 
have  heard  to-day  are  for  your  use  in  your  shops,  your 
counting-houses,  your  drawing-rooms,  wherever  God  in  his 
providence  may  have  placed  you,  to-morrow  ;  and  the  proof 
that  you  have  heard  Christ,  and  not  his  servant,  is  that  you 
not  only  do,  but  enjoy  it  as  comfort  and  nutriment.  The 
sanctuary  is  for  hearing  ;  the  world  is  for  working.  And 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  people  will  most  approve  of  your 
minister,  when  they  see  his  sermons  translated  in  your  prac- 
tice, and  there  eloquently,  instantaneously,  and  silently, 
reason  of  righteousness,  and  temperance,  and  judgment. 

Hear  Christ's  words  also  with  a  deep  and  solemn  sense  of 
responsibility.     I  know  not  a  more  solemn  position  upon 


MATTHEW    XVI I.  185 

earth  than  that  of  a  hearer  of  those  great  truths,  which 
shall  not  sleep,  but  must  meet  you  again  at  the  judgment- 
seat  of  God.     On  the  Royal  Exchange,  it  is  said,  the  busi- 
ness of  the  world  is  transacted.    In  the  House  of  Commons, 
it  is  said,  war,  and  peace,  and  the  progress  of  the  nation, 
are  settled.     But  on  the  floor  of  a  Christian  Church  infi- 
nitely greater,  even  inexhaustible  issues  and  destinies,  are 
wound  up,  and  settled  probably  for  ever.     It  is  a  most  sol- 
emn   truth   that  this    gospel,  however   plainly,  if   purely, 
preached,  is  to  every-body  who  hears  it  the  savour  of  life, 
or  the  savor  of  death.     ISTo  man  leaves  hearing  an  honest, 
faithful  sermon,  exactly  as  he  entered.     He  goes  out  more 
predisposed  to  receive  the  next  message,  or  to. reject  it.     If 
you  can  make  up  your  mind  to-day  to  resist  the  appeal  that 
is  made  to  your  conscience,  then  you  have  made  up  your 
mind  more   successfully  to  do  it  to-morrow,  until  a  process 
of  hardening  goes  on,  that  makes  men  come  to  the  sanctu- 
ary, hearing  as  if  they  heard  not,  and  literally  being  har- 
dened, not  benefited  and  blessed,  by  the  everlasting  Gospel. 
It  is  so  in  all  the  laws  of  nature.     A  person  who  sleeps 
where  a  mill-wheel  constantly  goes,  cannot  well  sleep  with- 
out its  noise ;  persons  in  this  great  metropolis  are  so  accus- 
tomed to  the  roar  of  its  carriages,  that  if  it  were  to  cease, 
their  rest  would  be  disturbed ;  and  so,  a  person  who  can 
hear  without  attention  the  Gospel  pointedly  addressed  to  his 
conscience,  becomes    at   length  so    casehardened,  that  the 
word  hits  the   hard  heart,  and   rebounds  and  disappears. 
What  a  solemn  thought  is  it,  then,  that  truths  are  spoken  in 
these  walls  that  will  rise  at  the  judgment-seat,  either  in 
echoes  of  sweet  music   justifying  you,  or  in  crashes  and 
reverberations    of  endless    and   inexhaustible    sorrow  and 
remorse  !     What  a  solemn  truth  is  it,  that  seeds  are  sown 
here,  which  will  grow  up,  either  into  harvests  of  beautiful 
wheat  that  the  Master  will  gather  into  his  everlasting  gar- 
ners, or  into  weeds,  thistles,  and  thorns,  that  are  fit  only  for 


186  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  burning!  Then  hear  these  words  with  a  deep  sense  of 
responsibihty,  —  "I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock:  if  any 
man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to 
him,  and  will  sup  with  hira,  and  he  with  me."  "  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest." 

Hear  Christ's  voice,  as  that  voice  is  spoken  through  his 
Word,  impartially.  Do  not  hear  a  truth  to-day,  and  say, 
"  How  I  love  that  truth,  and  with  what  delight  shall  I  go  to 
hear  that  preacher  address  me  again !  "  but  next  Sunday, 
upon  hearing  another  truth,  say,  "  I  cannot  hear  it,  I  will 
not  go  to  listen  to  him  any  more."  My  dear  friends,  you 
must  not  ask,."  Is  this  palatable  ?  "  but,  "  Is  it  true  ?  "  Not, 
"  Does  it  dovetail  with  my  creed  ?  "  but,  "  Is  it  the  echo  of 
the  words  of  the  Son  of  God  ?  "  One  man  can  hear  with 
delight  this  truth,  "  Work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling ; "  but  when  he  hears  next  Sunday  the  words 
that  follow,  "  For  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you,  both  to 
will'and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure,"  he  cannot  hear  it.  A 
person  of  the  Antinomian  school  can  hear  these  words  with 
great  gratification,  ''  No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the 
Father  which  hath  sent  me  draw  him,"  (John  vi.  44)  ;  but 
when  he  hears,  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me,  that  ye  might 
have  life,"  (John  v.  40,)  he  cannot  bear  it  at  all.  Now,  we 
must  hear  truth,  whether  it  have  the  sanction  of  great  men, 
or  not.  We  must  go  as  individual  souls,  and  kneel  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus,  and  listen,  not  to  what  Elijah  says,  or  to  what 
Moses  writes,  or  to  what  synods  have  decided,  but,  "  This  is 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ;  hear  ye  him." 

We  are  to  hear  only  what  Christ  says.  By  all  means 
study  commentaries.  Some  of  them  are  very  useful,  though 
others  are  very  unsatisfactory ;  and  sometimes  the  commen- 
tary spoils  the  original.  But  above  all,  keep  closely  in  con- 
tact with  God's  holy  word.  Contact  w^itli  man's  word  gener- 
ates scepticism;  contact  with  the  priest's  word    generates 


MATTHEW   XVII.  187 

superstition  ;  contact  with  Christ's  word  creates  Christianity. 
Keep  close  to  this  blessed  Book ;  study  it  deeply  and  rev- 
erently. I  purchased  the  other  day  a  Book  of  the  Psalms, 
published  by  Bagster,  where  the  parallel  passages  are  in 
full,  and  you  have  no  idea  what  a  force  is  given  to  a  Psalm 
when  it  is  thus  set  like  an  apple  of  gold  in  a  network  of 
silver.  Study  God's  word,  above  all,  in  its  own  beautiful 
light.  All  ancient  usage,  •  all  illustrious  learning,  must 
remain  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount ;  and  even  Peter,  James, 
and  John,  who  alone  went  up,  must  not  speak,  but  listen : 
for  "  this  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ; 
hear  ye  him." 

I  need  not  say,  it  is  our  privilege  to  hear  him :  1  will  not 
call  it  our  duty.  Ah!  if  we  had  only  a  couple  of  years  in 
Florence,  we  should  then  begin  to  feel  what  a  precious  privi- 
lege is  a  Bible,  that  no  priest's  coarse  hand  dare  close,  and 
for  the  reading  of  which  no  court  or  judge  can  inflict  upon 
you  a  penalty.  In  this  great  land  of  ours,  great  amid  all  its 
defects  and  deficiencies,  there  is  a  freedom,  religious,  politi- 
cal, national,  for  which  w^e  cannot  be  too  thankful ;  and  you 
may  depend  upon  it,  it  is  the  Bible  that  is  the  fountainhead 
of  it  all ;  and  the  way  to  preserve  all  is  to  hold  fast  this 
blessed  charter,  to  have  it  incorporated  in  our  inmost  hearts, 
the  man  of  our  counsel,  the  word  upon  the  right  and  left, 
saying  continually,  "  This  is  the  way  :  walk  ye  in  it." 

Lastly,  hear  the  voice  from  Tabor,  not  for  yourselves 
only,  but  for  others.  Hear  that  you  may  speak ;  receive 
that  you  may  give.  Every  man  ought  to  be  in  his  place  a 
minister  and  preacher  of  the  truth.  There  is  no  fear  that 
the  Tractarian  notion,  that  the  ministerial  office  will  be  trod- 
den underfoot,  will  be  realized.  There  is  no  risk  of  too 
many  becoming  preachers  of  the  Gospel ;  there  is  no  fear  of 
too  many  going  into  the  dens  and  wretched  courts  of  this 
great  metropolis,  and  telling  the  downtrodden  of  a  Savioui., 
the  lost  and  the  dying  of  a  great  salvation. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

COMING  OF  ELIJAH  —  A  FATHER'S  PRAYER  —  LUNACY  —  SATAN 'S 
MIMICRY — IGNORANCE  OF  THE  APOSTLES — AN  ECCLESIASTICAL 
TAX. 

Then  "his  disciples  asked  him,"  evidently  building  upon 
His  advice,  "  Why  then  say  the  scribes  that  Elias  must  first 
come  ?  "  They  said  well.  All  prophecy  predicts  the  coming 
of  Elijah  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  — 
not  before  his  crucifixion,  but  hefore  his  second  advent. 
"  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Elias  truly  shall 
first  come  "  —  it  is  an  absolute  prophecy.  And  what  shall 
he  do  ?  "  Restore  all  things."  Then  John  the  Baptist  could 
not  have  been  this  Elijah.  Elijah  was  seen  on  the  mount, 
the  companion  of  Moses,  the  representative  of  the  Prophets  ; 
but  John  the  Baptist,  of  whom  Jesus  says,  "  that  Elias  is 
come  already,  and  they  knew  him  not,  but  have  done  unto 
him  whatsoever  they  listed,"  'could  not  have  been  the  same 
as  the  Elijah  who  appeared  on  the  mount.  Nay,  when  John 
was  asked,  he  said,  "  I  am  not  the  Christ.  And  they  asked 
him,  What  then  ?  Art  thou  Elias  ?  And  he  saith,  I  am  not." 
Then  how  can  we  reconcile  the  two  passages  ?  It  is  said 
in  Luke  i.  17,  that  John  the  Baptist  "  should  go  before  him 
in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias  ;"  but  John  the  Baptist  was 
not  Elijah ;  he  was  not  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of 
Elijah ;  and  I  believe,  not  because  I  guess  it,  but  because 
the  Bible  asserts  it,  that  before  Christ's  second  advent  Eli- 
jah will  come,  the  herald  of  his  glory,  just  as  before  Christ's 
first  advent  the  Baptist  came  to  herald  his  sorrow  and  his 


MATTHEW   XVII.  189 

suffering.  I  believe  it  upon  this  text,  as  well  as  others, 
"  Elias  truly  shall  first  come  "  —  still  future  —  "  and  resto-re 
all  things."  Did  John  restore  any  thing  ?  He  restored 
nothing.  He  was  the  inspired  rebuker  of  a  country's  sins, 
and  he  bade  them  prepare  for  the  reception  of  that  country's 
Lord  ;  but  he  literally  restored  nothing.  And,  therefore,  this 
must  apply  to  what  shall  be,  and  not  to  that  which  has 
already  been. 

"  When  they  were  come  to  the  multitude,  there  came  to 
him  a  certain  man,  kneeling  down  to  him,  and  saying,  Lord, 
have  mercy  on  my  son."  Whether  this  man  was  a  Chris- 
tian, I  know  not.  He  knelt  down,  which  was  homage,  if  he 
were  not  a  Christian  ;  or  it  was  worship,  if  he  was.  In  the 
Christian  church  men  have  often  disputed  about  forms.  It 
is  a  pity  that  they  should  do  so.  In  some  parts  of  Scripture 
it  is  said  that  they  kneel  at  worship,  in  other  parts  that  they 
stand ;  and  the  only  form  which  is  not  mentioned  is  that 
which  prevails  at  many  places,  namely,  sitting  at  public 
worship ;  there  is  no  instance  of  that  in  the  word  of  God. 
I  know  it  is  often  difficult  in  our  churches,  so  crowded,  and 
so  inconvenient  in  many  respects,  either  to  kneel  sometimes, 
or  to  stand  ;  and  in  such  circumstances  God  hears  the  prayer 
of  the  beating  heart,  which  is  true  and  genuine  devotion.  It 
is  not,  after  all,  the  form  that  God  looks  to,  but  the  spirit ; 
he  looks  not  at  this  mountain  or  that,  but  at  the  heart  of 
him  who  kneels,  or  stands,  or  reclines  upon  it. 

He  said,  "  Have  mercy  on  my  son :  for  he  is  a  lunatic." 
You  can  easily  see  the  origin  of  that  word  "  lunatic."  In 
the  Greek  it  is  said  that  his  son  G£krivLaC,trai,  "was  moon- 
struck," or,  literally,  "  leaps  to  the  moon ; "  and  our  word 
"  lunatic "  comes  from  the  Latin  word  luna^  "  the  moon." 
There  has  always  been  supposed  to  be  some  connection 
between  the  moon  and  certain  phases  of  madness.  I  am  not 
competent  to  say  whether  there  really  is,  but  popularly  it  is 
so  believed  ;  and,  therefore,  to  say  that  a  man  is  "  lunatic," 


190  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

is  simply  to  say  that  he  is  a  madman,  or  a  man  influenced  by 
the  moon.  But  this  man  was  more  than  that ;  he  was  also 
demoniacally  possessed :  for  it  is  said,  "  Jesus  rebuked  the 
devil ;  and  he  departed  out  of  him."  Now  it  is  not  the  fact 
that  lunacy  and  demoniacal  possession  are  one  and  the  same 
thing,  though  both  may  be  united  in  one  person.  It  is  ob- 
vious, here,  that  a  demon  took  advantage  of  liis  lunacy ;  for 
it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  this  man  was  merely  lunatic, 
when  we  find  Jesus  rebuking  the  devil  that  was  within  him. 
He  did  not  rebuke  the  man,  but  the  devil  who  had  found  a 
lodgement  in  his  frame.  I  do  not  believe  there  are  demoniac 
possessions  now.  It  seems  that  they  ceased  when  Christ 
rose  from  the  dead.  The  devil  always  adapted  his  diplo- 
macy or  his  movements  to  the  spiritual  phasis  of  the  day. 
When,  for  instance,  Moses  wrought  his  miracles,  the  magi- 
cians, by  the  inspiration  of  Satan,  wrought  supernatural  feats 
in  mimicry  also.  I  do  not  think  they  were  tricks ;  I  think 
that  many  of  them  were  real  supernatural  acts.  And  so, 
when  Jesus  came  in  the  flesh,  Satan  seems  to  have  come  in 
the  flesh  also,  for  demoniac  possessions  took  place  then  that 
had  not  taken  place,  at  least  to  the  same  extent,  before. 
But  now  this  is  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit ;  and  Satan 
does  not  take  possession  of  the  body,  but  he  still  worketh  in 
the  children  of  disobedience.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  great 
Agent  in  this  economy  among  the  children  of  God  ;  and 
Satan  is  the  spirit  that  worketh  in  the  children  of  disobe- 
dience. Satan  is  ever  counterfeiting  the  work  of  God ;  the 
false  coin,  indicating  by  its  appearance  the  nature  of  the  true 
—  Satan's  mode  of  acting  being  the  counterpart  of  God's. 

Now  the  man  said,  "  I  brought  him  to  thy  disciples,  and 
they  could  not  cure  him."  And  "  then  Jesus  answered  and 
said,"  not  in  passion,  nor  in  anger,  "  0  unbelieving  and  un- 
manageable generation,"  for  that  is  the  meaning  of  the 
words,  "  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you  ?  how  long  shall  I 
suffer  you "  —  or,   bear  patiently  with   you  ?    "  bring   him 


MATTHEW   XVII.  191 

hither  to  me."  When  we  read  this  in  our  translation,  we 
fancy  it  is  the  language  of  hasty  and  precipitate  passion.  It 
is  not  so  :  it  is  cahn  and  dehberate.  "  And  Jesus  rebuked 
the  devil ;  and  he  departed  out  of  him ;  and  the  child  was 
cured  from  that  very  hour."  He  was  cured,  in  addition  to 
the  exodus  of  the  devil. 

Then  the  disciples  asked  Jesus,  "  AVhy  could  not  we  cast 
him  out  ?  "  And  Jesus  said,  "  Because  of  your  unbelief." 
You  say,  Why  should  belief  make  the  departure  of  a  devil 
easier  than  unbelief?  I  answer,  Why  should  faith  be  neces- 
sary to  our  salvation  through  the  death  and  sacrifice  of  Christ 
Jesus  ?  It  is  God's  ordinance  that  faith  in  the  individual 
shall  be  connected  with  effects  in  his  conduct  and  character ; 
and  it  is  the  same  in  working  miracles  as  in  producing  the 
peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness.  But  you  say.  If  faith 
could  remove  a  mountain  then,  which  I  believe  to  be  liter- 
ally meant,  does  faith  remove  mountains  now  ?  I  answer, 
No.  You  say.  Why  ?  Because  it  is  not  God's  pleasure. 
Pie  who  gives  faith  fixes  its  limits.  When,  therefore,  you 
hear  any  body  of  men  say,  "  We  can  do  miracles,"  do  not 
say,  "  I  will  not  believe,"  but  bid  them  come  and  do  them : 
and  as  a  miracle  is  an  appeal  to  the  senses,  they  are  compe- 
tent judges  of  it.  But  for  any  body  of  men  to  say,  "  We 
do  miracles,"  as  the  Church  of  Rome  says,  and  yet  to  per- 
sist in  doing  them  in  a  corner,  makes  us  suspect  that  they 
are  really  not  done  at  all.  If  there  be  a  miracle,  show  it. 
If  there  be  none,  do  not  pretend  to  do  it.  If  you  ask,  Why 
did  God  allow  miracles  to  faith  then,  and  not  allow  miracles 
to  faith  now  ?  I  answer,  It  is  fact  that  he  did  allow 
them  then,  and  it  is  also  fact  that  he  does  not  allow  them 
now.  Why  or  wherefore  we  know  not,  but  we  shall  know 
hereafter.  Perhaps  miracles  are  now  not  needed.  The 
seals  are  affixed. 

Again,  Jesus  told  them  of  his  approaching  death  —  "  The 
Son  of  man  shall  be  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  men :  and 


192  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

they  shall  kill  him,  and  the  third  day  he  shall  be  raised 
again."  And  see  how  unenlightened  the  apostles  were,  — 
"  They  were  exceeding  sorry."  The  apostles  were,  many 
of  them,  prior  to  the  day  of  Pentecost,  wofully  unenlight- 
ened. It  is  often  so  still.  Many  a  true  Christian  may  get 
to  heaven  holding  errors,  and  very  unenlightened  in  many 
things,  provided  he  hold  the  main  thing ;  but  some  of  these 
apostles  seem  at  this  stage,  and  before  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
to  have  been  ignorant  of  vital  things.  They  were  sorry  that 
Christ  should  suffer.  Peter  was  constantly  holding  him 
back.  "  Far  be  it  from  them,"  was  his  language,  not  know- 
ing that  the  death  of  Jesus  would  be  the  life  of  his  people, 
and  that,  if  Christ  did  not  bear  a  heavy  cross,  we  should 
never  wear  a  blessed  crown. 

And  when  they  were  come  to  Capernaum,  they  that 
received  tribute-money  came  to  Peter,  and  said,  "  Doth  not 
your  master  pay  tribute  ?  "  Now,  to  comprehend  this  allu- 
sion, you  must  understand  it  was  the  tem[)le  money  that 
was  here  demanded,  and  not  a  civil  tax  inflicted  by  Caesar 
for  Cajsar's  maintenance.  It  was  an  ecclesiastical  tax,  or 
what  we  should  call  a  church-rate  inflicted  on  the  people  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  temple  and  the  means  of  public 
worship  in  that  country.  Jesus  said,  "  What  thinkest  thou, 
Simon  ?  of  whom  do  the  kings  of  the  earth  take  custom  or 
tribute  ?  of  their  own  children,  or  of  strangers  ?  "  Peter 
ansv/ered,  "  Of  strangers  ; "  that  is,  the  sons  of  princes  in 
ancient  times  did  not  pay  tribute,  but  only  the  citizens  or 
the  people.  Now  Jesus  says,  "  As  this  is  an  ecclesiastical 
tax  for  the  maintenance  of  the  temple,  I  am  the  Son  of  the 
great  King,  and  therefore  I  may  plead  exemption  from  the 
payment  of  this  tax."  But  that  there  might  be  an  example 
'for  you,  and  for  all  people,  he  paid  a  tax  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  a  religion  that  was  corrupt.  Now  suppose  that  I 
were,  what  I  am  not,  opposed  to  the  established  rehgion  of 
the  country  1  live  in,  I  should  give  my  money  without  best- 


MATTHEW    XVII.  193 

tatioii  towards  its  maintenance  if  enjoined  by  the  laws.  If 
I  were  in  Turkey,  I  would  pay  the  money  that  the  sultan 
demands  for  the  maintenance  of  religion  there ;  and  if  I 
were  in  Plindostan,  I  would  pay  the  rate  levied  for  the 
maintenance  of  Hindooism,  if  it  were  ordered  to  be  paid  by 
competent  authority.  I  would  try  to  do  every  thng  in  my 
power  to  get  a  repeal  of  the  tax,  if  so  allowed ;  but  as  long 
as  the  rate  is  law,  so  long  it  is  duty  to  pay  it.  I  do  there- 
fore believe  that  some  of  our  brethren  do  not  act  according 
to  the  clear  and  obvious  meaning  of  the  New  Testament, 
when  they  refuse  to  pay  church-rates  that  are  exacted  by 
competent  authority.  Try  to  alter  the  law,  if  you  like  ;  but 
as  long  as  the  law  exists,  obedience  to  it  is  duty.  You  say 
to  me,  perhaps,  That  is  your  opinion,  because  you  belong  to  a 
church  establishment.  It  is  no  such  thing.  I  base  it  upon 
this  solemn  deed  of  our  blessed  Lord.  Whether  it  were 
church  or  dissent,  it  is  certain  that  he  wrought  a  miracle  in 
order  to  pay  the  ecclesiastical  tax  that  was  due  for  mainten- 
ance of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  If  I  should  be  called 
upon  to  pay  towards  the  support  of  the  religion  of  the  coun- 
try in  which  I  happen  to  reside,  if  it  be  a  false  religion,  I 
am  sorry  for  it :  but  if  it  be  the  same  as  my  own,  except  as 
regards  forms,  I  am  surely  large-hearted  enough  to  pay 
towards  its  maintenance,  and  to  thank  God  for  true  religion 
under  whatever  formulary  it  is  maintained. 


HoTE.  —  [26.]  The  whole  force  of  this  argument  depends  on  the 
fact  of  the  payment  being  a  divine  one.  It  rests  on  this  :  if  the  sons 
are  free,  then  on  me,  being  the  Son  of  God,  has  this  tax  no  claim. 
K^vaog,  money  taken  after  the  reckoning  of  the  census ;  a  capitation 
tax,  — a  Latin  Avord.  'AlloTpiuv,  all  Avho  are  not  their  children,  those 
out  of  their  family.  [27.]  In  this,  which  has  been  pronounced  (even 
bv  Olshausen)  the  most  difficult  miracle  in  the  Gospels,  the  deeper 
17 


194  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Student  of  our  Lord's  life  and  actions  will  find  no  difficulty.  That 
not^vithstanding  this  immunity,  we,  (graciously  including  the  apostles 
in  the  earthly  payment,  and  omitting  the  distinction  between  them, 
which  was  not  now  to  be  told  to  any,)  that  we  may  not  offend  them, 
will  pay  what  is  required,  and  shall  find  it  furnished  by  God's  special 
providence  for  us.  In  the  foreknowledge  and  power  which  this  mira- 
cle implies,  the  Lord  recalls  Peter  to  that  great  confession  which  his 
hasty  answer  to  the  collectors  shows  him  to  have  again  in  part  forgot- 
ten.—  Alford. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

DISPUTE  ABOUT  SUPREMACY  —  A  LITTLE  CHILD — OFFENCES-^ 
GUARDIAN  ANGELS  —  LOST  ORB  —  TELL  IT  TO  THE  CHURCH  — 
FORGIVENESS. 

I  DO  not  know  a  more  beautiful,  expressive,  or  instructive 
chapter  in  the  whole  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  if  I  except 
the  fifth,  than  that  which  I  have  read.  It  is  full  of  lessons 
for  every-day  practice,  applicable  to  all  circumstances,  and 
fitted  to  convey  precious  personal  instruction  to  all  who 
have  ears  to  hear,  and  hearts  at  all  willing  to  be  taught. 

Recollect,  that  in  the  previous  chapter  but  one  Peter  had 
received  what  seemed  a  sort  of  supremacy  or  superiority. 
Accordingly,  a  dispute  arises  in  the  commencement  of  this 
chapter,  partly  from  the  recollection,  it  may  be,  of  the  ap- 
parently special  prerogative  with  which  Peter  seemed 
invested,  partly  owing  to  our  own  fallen  and  sinful  temper, 
to  the  effect  which  should  be  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  It  is  quite  plain,  that  if  they  had  understood  our 
Lord  to  make  Peter  chief,  and  head,  and  pope,  they  never 
would  have  dreamed  of  immediately  afterwards  disputing 
which  of  them  should  be  greatest.  That  very  dispute 
■which  then  arose,  Avhile  it  indicates  the  frailty  of  those  who 
engaged  in  it,  no  less  clearly  proves  that  they  did  not 
understand  that  Peter  was  invested  with  any  ecclesiastical 
supremacy. 

When  this  dispute  occurred,  Jesus  took  a  little  child,  his 
favorite  model,  —  for  on  more  than  one  occasion  He,  who 
truly  appreciated  what  infancy  is,  set  forward  a  child  as  a 


196  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

specimen,  alike  of  those  who  in  number,  in  temper,  in  char- 
acter, and  in  years,  constitute  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
There  runs  through  the  whole  of  this  passage  a  recognition 
of  children  as  the  special  subjects  of  Christ  I  have  often 
said,  what,  I  think,  can  be  proved  from  Scripture,  that  all 
children  who  die  in  infancy,  before  years  of  responsibility, 
that  is,  before  seven,  eight,  or  nine  years  of  age  —  without 
specifying  a  year,  Avhich  we  have  no  right  to  do,  because 
children  vary  in  their  intellect,  character,  and  sense  of 
moral  obligation  —  are  saved,  baptized  or  unbaptized,  of 
believing  or  unbelieving  parents ;  for  we  make  no  distinc- 
tion in  that  respect.  I  cannot  now  indicate  my  reasons ; 
but  I  am  sure  that  they  are  quite  sufficient  to  bear  the 
superstructure  of  the  conclusion  that  I  have  now  stated. 
Jesus  took  a  child,  on  whom  he  looked  thus  lovingly :  and 
having  set  the  child  before  them,  he  said  —  "  Except  ye  be 
converted."  This  conversion  is  not  what  we  understand  by 
regeneration.  He  is  speaking  to  the  apostles  who  had 
turned  in  the  wrong  direction  ;  and  he  says  —  "  Unless  you 
turn  round,  change  totally  your  opinion,  and  become  as 
little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  Now,  what  is  it  in  a  little  child  that  is  so  worthy 
of  imitation  ?  First,  its  confidence  in  its  parent.  That 
confidence,  in  the  case  of  an  infant,  is  complete.  Let  a 
stranger  come  into  a  room,  and  look  upon  an  infant,  it  will 
instantly  hide  its  tiny  head  in  its  mother's  bosom,  as  if  con- 
scious that  the  spring  of  its  life,  comfort,  and  peace,  were 
there.  Secondly,  a  little  child  has  great  teachableness. 
You  may  teach  it  fables  or  truths,  it  alike  receives  them. 
Its  teachableness  is  one  of  its  bright  and  beautiful  charac- 
teristics. Our  Lord  says.  If  you  wish  to  be  Christians  of 
the  highest  order  and  stamp,  you  must  have  the  confidence 
in  your  Father  that  little  children  have  in  their  parents  ; 
and  the  teachableness  before  me,  that  little  children  indi- 
cate as  they  listen  to  their  parents.     "  Whosoever,  there- 


MATTHEW   XVIII.  197 

fore,  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,"  that  is,  be 
teachable,  "  the  same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
What  a  condemnation  to  all  supremacy,  alleged  to  have 
been  given  to  Peter,  and  claimed  by  his  pretended  succes- 
sors !  Not  he  who  is  highest  in  ecclesiastical  dignity,  but 
he  who  is  lowliest  in  Christian  humility,  is  the  greatest  in 
the  Church  of  Christ,  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

He  solemnly  declares  —  "  Whoso  shall  offend  one  of  these 
little  ones,"  or  those  of  whom  children  were  the  types, 
"  which  believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill- 
stone were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were 
drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea."  Perhaps  the  reference 
here  is  to  Judas.  It  were  better  that  any  one  had  died  be- 
fore he  should  commit  such  an  offence,  that  is,  mislead  to 
everlasting  destruction  a  professing  follower  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

He  adds  —  "  Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offences  !  " 
the  world  will  suffer  for  them,  —  "  for  it  must  needs  be  that 
offences  come  "  —  there  is  no  avoiding  them  in  this  imper- 
fect dispensation ;  but  there  is  guilt,  notwithstanding,  in  the 
person  who  brings,  or  provokes,  or  creates  them  —  "but 
woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offence  cometh ! " 

He  repeats,  in  the  8th  and  9th  verses,  what  is  stated  in 
another  chapter  —  "If  thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out." 
Now  obviously  this  is  not  to  be  understood  literally.  He 
is  speaking  in  figurative  language,  using  the  most  expres- 
sive similes  in  order  to  convey  solemn,  important,  and  para- 
mount duties.  The  meaning  of  the  passage  plainly  is,  that 
whatever  stands  in  your  way  to  heaven,  let  it  be  as  valua- 
ble as  a  right-hand  that  will  defend  you,  or  as  dear  as  an 
eye  that  can  see  all  that  is  beautiful  in  nature,  you  must 
part  with  it,  rather  than  fall,  stumble,  or  come  short  in  your 
progress  to  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  everlasting  happiness. 
You  will  find,  by  looking  at  the  fifth  chapter  of  this  Gos- 
pel, that  a  number  of  similar  material  figures  are  employed, 
17* 


198  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

each  meant  to  convey  an  instructive  moral  lesson.  For  any 
one  to  understand  these  literally,  would  be  to  act  as  ab- 
surdly as  the  Roman  Catholic,  who  understands  "  This  is 
my  body "  literally.  It  would  be  giving  a  carnal  inter- 
pretation to  that  which  is  the  vehicle  of  moral  instruction. 

"  Take  heed  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones  ; 
for  I  say  unto  you.  That  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always 
behold  the  face  of  my  father  which  is  in  heaven."  Dr. 
Wiseman  quotes  this  text,  in  his  Lectures,  in  order  to  show 
that  there  are  guardian  angels,  and  that  every  person  upon 
earth  has  his  angel  who  attends  to  him.  Well,  suppose  the 
Cardinal's  notions  were  literally  and  strictly  true,  it  would 
not  prove  that  the  Christian,  watched  by  an  unseen  angel, 
should  turn  round  and  worship  him.  It  is  one  thing  to  have 
an  angel  as  my  servant,  —  it  is  quite  another  thing  for  me 
to  make  that  angel  my  God,  or  my  intercessor  at  God's 
right-hand.  If  the  angel  serve  me,  I  am  thankful  to  the 
God  who  sends  him ;  but  on  no  account  am  I  to  worship 
that  angel,  either  for  his  dignity  or  from  the  services  he  can 
and  does  render  me.  Nay,  the  experiment  was  made  by 
mistake  once.  John  fell  down  to  worship  before  the  feet  of 
the  angel  who  showed  him  certain  things,  (^.  e.  acted  as  a 
ministering  servant,)  in  the  Apocalypse  ;  and  what  did  the 
angel  say  ?  "  See  thou  do  it  not :  for  I  am  thy  fellow-servant, 
and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets,  and  of  them  which  keep 
the  sayings  of  this  book  :  worship  God."  It  is  quite  plain, 
then,  that  even  granting,  for  argument's  sake,  that  there  are 
what  are  called  guardian  angels,  it  does  not  follow  that  we 
are  to  worship  them.  But  the  truth  is,  there  is  no  indica- 
tion here  of  a  guardian  angel  at  all.  We  are  to  explain  the 
passage  in  the  light  of  that  assertion  in  Hebrews  i.  14, 
"Are  not  the  angels  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to 
minister  to  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation  ?  "  We 
do  not  deny  the  existence  of  angels,  because  we  do  not  wor- 
ship them.     We  do  ir)t  deny  that  angels  visit  us,  because 


MATTHEW    XVIir.  199 

we  refuse  to  adore  them.  Angels  are  ministering  spirits. 
Nay,  it  is  the  proof  of  a  Christian  or  a  child  of  God,  that 
angels  came  from  heaven  to  minister  to  him.  "  Do  always 
behold  the  face  of  my  Father  "  is  an  expression  that  occurs 
frequently  in  speaking  of  Eastern  courts.  "  I  shall  see  the 
face  of  the  king,"  or,  "  they  were  permitted  to  see  the  king's 
face,"  means  to  be  admitted  into  his  presence.  All  that  the 
passage  proves,  therefore,  is,  that  angels  are  in  the  presence 
of  God  "  before  his  face,"  ever  ready,  waiting,  and  willing 
to  go  forth  on  messages  of  mercy  and  of  ministration  to  all 
God's  people,  scattered  throughout  the  world.  In  other 
words,  our  blessed  Redeemer  presents  himself  here  as  the 
true  Jacob's  ladder,  down  which  angels  came  to  minister 
to  them  who  are  the  heirs  of  salvation. 

Then  he  illustrates  the  idea  of  looking  after  lost  ones  by 
this ;  that  if  a  man  have  a  hundred  sheep,  and  one  of  them 
be  gone  astray,  he  wdll  leave  the  ninety  and  nine,  and  go 
and  seek  that  which  is  gone  astray.  It  is  so  with  a  sinner. 
Suppose  there  were  a  hundred  or  a  thousand  millions  in  the 
world,  and  a  hundredth  part  had  gone  astray,  God  misses 
that  small  part,  and  thinks  more  of  it  than  of  those  who 
keep  their  first  estate.  Angels  in  countless  myriads  keep 
their  first  estate,  and  are  in  glory ;  but  Jesus  came  after  us 
to  recover  us ;  and  thus  has  left  the  ninety  and  nine  who 
are  in  heaven,  and  come  after  the  lost  ones  that  are  here. 
Or,  to  take  the  idea  that  Dr.  Chalmers  understood  it  to 
involve  :  there  are  thousands  of  worlds  beside  our  own  ;  it 
is  absurd  to  imagine  that  those  gigantic  ma^es  we  call  stars, 
which  are  vastly  larger  than  our  own  world,  are  empty 
spheres.  They  are  inhabited.  All  that  we  know  is,  that 
this  is  the  only  fallen  world.  Well,  God  has  left  the  ninety 
and  nine  orbs,  that  needed  no  salvation  —  because  guilty  of 
no  sin,  —  and  has  come  after  the  stray  world  that  needs  to 
be  recovered,  because  it  has  gone  astray.  And,  bless'id  be 
his  name,  he  missed  so  minute  a  thing  amid  the  shining  mul- 


200  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

titudes  of  the  sky,  and  that  after  this  little  thing,  which 
might  have  been  expunged  without  leaving  a  single  gap,  he 
has  come,  and  at  last  redeemed  it  at  a  great  price. 

He  next  speaks  of  trespasses  ;  "  Moreover,  if  thy  brother 
shall  trespass  against  thee,"  you  are  not  to  challenge  him  to 
fight  a  duel,  but  you  are  to  go  and  tell  him  what  he  has 
done,  and  what  is  your  opinion  of  it,  and  ask  him  to  satisfy 
you  by  explaining  it,  or,  as  he  ought  to  do  if  he  has  done 
wrong,  by  making  a  humble  apology  for  it.     Then,  "  if  he 
shall  hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy  brother  ;  "  but  if  he  is 
a  man  of  a  very  irritable  and  wrathful  temperament,  take 
with  you  one  or  two  more,  in  order  that  you  may  be  backed 
by  proper  advocates,  who  will  give  their  opinion,  and  by 
their  weight,  authority,  and  good  sense,  bring  your  brother 
to  his  right  mind.     But  if  he  will  not  then  attend  to  you, 
"  tell  it  unto   the  church."     Now,  what  can  "  the  church " 
mean  here  ?   It  is  absurd  to  interpret  this  to  mean  a  general 
council.     The  last  General  Council  closed   its  sittings  in 
1564,  and  that  was  a  sham  one,  for  it  was  packed  with  the 
pope's  prelates,  and  the  most  impartial  men,  because  im- 
partial, were  kept   out  of  it.     Infallibility,  therefore,  if  it 
reside  in  a  general  council,  has  been  dead  for  nearly  300 
years.    But  if  this  mean  a  general  council,  are  two  people 
who  quarrel  about  a  paltry  matter  to  go  and  prevail  on  the 
pope  to  summon  a  general   council,  in  order  that  all   the 
bishops  of  Christendom  may  settle  the  dispute  ?     The  thing 
is  absurd.     It  cannot  mean,  either,  that  a  general  assembly, 
or  a  synod,  or  st  presbytery,  are  to  be  called  together.     It 
means  that  the  dispute  is  to  be  told  to  the  church,  i.  e.,  the 
Christian  laity  assembled  within  four  walls.     The  idea  of  the 
church  here,  while  I  hold  the  propriety  and  scriptural  war- 
rant of  a  provincial  and   a  national  church,  is   the  original 
one,  or  the  church  congregational ;  and  it  is  to  it  that  you  are 
to  tell  your  dispute.     It  is  not  to  the  representatives  of  it. 
Alford,  a  most  able  and  accomplished  critic  on  the  New  Tes- 


MATTHEW    XVIII.  201 

tament,  though  he  once  held  very  high  ecclesiastical  notions, 
declares  that  the  idea  that  this  means  a  general  council, 
or  representative  body,  or  any  thing  of  that  sort,  is  quite 
untenable.  The  last  place  to  which  I  would  refer  a  quarrel 
between  two  Christians  Avould  be  the  General  Assembly  in 
Scotland,  the  Convocation  in  England,  or  a  General  Council 
in  Rome  ;  for  they  would  make  the  matter  infinitely  worse. 
I  would  select  half-a-dozen  plain  Christians,  peasants  or 
tradesmen,  and  ask  them  to  give  their  judgment,  and  so 
settle  the  controversy,  in  preference  to  all  the  councils  or 
synods  that  ever  met ;  and  it  is  evidence  of  the  wonderful 
wisdom  of  this  blessed  Book  that  so  simple  but  practical  a 
prescription  is  here  given.  "  But  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the 
church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  pub- 
lican." He  is  not  to  be  persecuted  or  burned,  but  simply  to 
be  separated  from  your  society  until  he  repent,  acknowledge 
his  fault,  and  return. 

In  the  19th  verse,  our  Lord  plainly  shows  Avhat  he  means 
by  the  church  :  "  If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  any  thing  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for 
them  of  my  Father  w^hich  is  in  heaven."  What  an  encour- 
agement to  social  prayer !  Private  prayer  is  most  precious  ; 
but  here  there  is  a  special  promise  of  a  special  answer  to 
congregational  prayer  offered  up  by  two  or  three  met  to- 
gether in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

Then,  in  the  20th  verse,  he  explains  still  further  what  is 
meant  by  the  church  :  "  For  where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." 
"Unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be."  (Genesis 
xlix.  10.)  Wherever  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in 
Christ's  name,  there  is  a  true  church.  The  minister  is  an 
officer  necessary  to  instruct,  an  ordinance  and  institution  of 
Christ ;  but  he  is  not  the  church.  The  clergy  are  not  the 
church  ;  they  are  officers  of  the  church  :  and  if  the  ministers 
were  left  without  the  people,  they  would  make  a  very  sorry 


202  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

church  indeed.  The  officers  of  the  army  are  not  the  army : 
it  is  the  mass  of  the  soldiers  that  constitute  the  army ;  the 
officers  are  the  leaders.  It  is  the  laity  who  constitute  the 
church ;  the  ministers  or  clergy  are  but  the  leaders  and  in- 
structors of  it.  If  you  let  go  that  precious  thought  that  you 
are  the  church,  and  delegate  that  presence,  power,  and  pre- 
rogative to  any  synod  or  convocation  upon  earth,  you  com- 
mit ecclesiastical  suicide,  you  denude  yourselves  of  your  great 
and  precious  privilege.  How  simple  is  that  description  ! 
"  Where  two  or  three."  It  does  not  say  it  must  be  in  a 
place  consecrated  by  presbyter,  prelate,  or  pope.  It  may  be 
on  the  tesselated  pavement  and  under  the  fretted  roof  of  the 
grand  cathedral,  or  it  may  be  on  the  hill-side,  or  on  the 
streets  of  Jerusalem :  and  holier  churches  met  on  these  last 
than  ever  met  in  mediaeval  cathedrals  in  the  history  of 
European  Christendom.  There  is  a  church,  if  two  or  three 
meet  anywhere  in  Christ's  name.  We  are  apt  to  be  im- 
pressed by  the  sight  of  a  vast  multitude ;  and  I  know 
nothing  more  impressive  than  to  see,  as  I  saw  the  other 
day  in  Exeter  Hall,  five  or  six  thousand  met  together  to 
listen  to  the  precious  truths  of  the  Gospel.  The  greatest 
grandeur  is  moral,  not  material.  However,  lest  we  should 
suppose  that  there  is  no  church  except  where  there  is  a 
crowd,  Christ  says,  "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  to- 
gether in  my  name."  But  the  essential  is,  "gathered 
together  in  Christ's  name."  What  makes  a  palace?  The 
residence  of  the  sovereign.  What  makes  a  church  ?  The 
presence  of  Christ. 

If  there  be  no  king,  there  is  no  palace.  If  there  be  no 
Lord  and  Saviour  to  descend  into  the  congregation,  there  is 
no  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

I  ought  to  add,  that  there  has  been  a  great  misinterpreta- 
tion of  this.  Some  of  you  may  remember  a  sermon  preached 
by  a  great  northern  divine,  headed  "  Hear  the  Church ; "  in 
which  his  argument  was,  that  every  man  was  listening  to 


MATTHEW   XVIII.  203 

his  private  judgment,  and  the  consequence  was  endless 
schism  and  dispute  ;  and  that  the  only  way  to  avoid  this  was 
to  listen  to  the  church,  as  in  this  passage.  But  there  is  not 
a  word  about  differences  in  doctrine  here.  We  are  told  to 
hear  the  church  on  personal  disputes;  but  we  are  not  there- 
fore to  conclude  that  we  are  to  hear  the  church  on  doctrinal 
matters.  It  may  be  a  competent  judge  on  personal  quarrels  ; 
it  may  be  a  very  incompetent  one  on  doctrinal  questions. 
And  besides  —  if  private  judgment  be  liable  to  so  many 
errors,  it  ought  not  to  be  disguised  that  ecclesiastical  judg- 
ments have  been  liable  to  very  grave  imputation  of  serious 
errors  too.  And  again,  when  the  Tractarian  tells  you  that 
private  judgment  has  done  so  great  mischief,  you  will  find 
that  all  his  conclusions  have  no  better  foundation  to  rest 
upon  than  private  judgment.  How  does  a  Roman  Catholic 
find  out  the  true  church  ?  He  exercises  his  private  judg- 
ment upon  the  Bible,  history,  and  evidence  ;  and  then  comes 
to  the  conclusion,  that  a  certain  corporation  is  the  church. 
Well,  if  private  judgment  be  sufficient  for  this,  surely  we 
may  trust  it  to  find  out  the  only  Saviour  and  the  way  to 
heaven.  If  private  judgment  be  good  in  the  former  case, 
surely  it  is  not  worse  in  this  last.  But  the  Roman  Catholic 
says,  "  After  we  have  found  the  true  church,  we  exercise 
private  judgment  no  more  ; "  i.  e.  he  is  sane  while  he  is  out- 
side the  church,  but  the  instant  he  crosses  the  threshold  he 
becomes  insane.  This  is  a  strange  and  very  perilous  con- 
clusion, and  would  lead  to  very  sad  issues,  as  we  should  find, 
if  we  could  here  follow  them  out. 

"  Then  came  Peter  to  him,  and  said.  Lord,  how  oft  shall 
my  brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him?"  You 
recollect,  Peter  had  a  special  privilege  —  "  Blessed  art  thou, 
Simon  Bar-jona :  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall 
be  bound  in  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  Now  Peter  hearing  that 
an  assemblage  of   laymen  were  invested   with   the    same 


204  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

power  as  himself,  as  you  will  see  they  were  in  the  18th 
verse,  seems  to  have  felt  a  little  jealous  :  for  he  says,  "  How 
oft  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive  him  ?  '* 
He  did  not  state  openly  what  was  in  his  own  mind,  but  he 
asked  a  question  that  he  thought  would  lead  our  Lord  to 
give  him  some  explanation  as  to  whether  there  was  any  real 
distinction  between  his  prerogative  and  the  prerogative  of  a 
company  of  believers.  Jesus  answered,  "  You  are  to  forgive 
your  brother,  if  he  sin  against  you,  seventy  times  seven 
times." 

And  then  he  gives  a  most  instructive  parable.  "  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened  unto  a  certain  king,  which 
would  take  account  of  his  servants ; "  and  one  of  them,  evi- 
dently a  satrap,  subject  to  the  supreme  emperor,  owed  him 
a  large  sum.  He  "  commanded  him  to  be  sold  ; "  but  the 
prince  asked  for  patience,  and  his  master  gave  him  more 
than  he  asked,  for  he  frankly  forgave  him  the  debt.  You 
will  notice  that  the  master  was  not  Christ,  but  that  the  par- 
able is  an  illustration  of  Christ's  way  of  love;  and  the 
expression  "  fell  down  and  worshipped  him,"  means  simply, 
he  paid  him  proper  respect  or  homage.  Well,  then,  you 
would  have  thought  that  this  servant,  so  unexpectedly  and 
so  frankly  forgiven,  would  have  had  such  a  spirit  of  forgive- 
ness, that  he  would  have  forgiven  seventy  times  seven. 
Instead  of  that,  he  was  so  forgetful  of  his  obligations,  that 
when  he  found  that  one  of  his  fellow-servants  owed  him  a 
very  small  sum,  he  exacted  the  utmost  penny,  and  cast  him 
into  prison  because  he  could  not  pay,  and  would  not  let  him 
out  of  prison  till  he  had  paid  him  all.  This  is  just  man 
still.  We  forget  how  much  we  have  received  ;  and  therefore 
how  much  we  owe.  Our  Lord  sums  up  the  whole  by  say- 
ing, "  And  his  lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to  the  tor- 
mentors, till  he  should  pay  all  that  Avas  due  unto  him.  vSo 
likewise  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do  also  unto  you,  if  ye 
from  your  hearts  forgive  not  everyone  his  brother  their  tres- 


MATTHEW    XVIII.  205 

passes."  It  is  said  the  king  had  begun  to  reckon.  And  first, 
he  laid  hold  of  one  of  his  servants  —  an  eminent  one  it  may 
be,  but  he  was,  to  use  the  common  expression,  "  accidentally  " 
the  first.  He  did  not  select  the  greatest  debtor,  but  the  very 
first  that  came  to  his  hand,  and  him  he  found  to  be  a  great 
defaulter  —  one  that  owed  a  very  large  sum  ;  teaching  us 
that  there  may  have  been  others  that  owed  him  much  more, 
that  this  one  may  have  been  the  lightest  and  not  the  heaviest 
debtor,  and  thus  far  suggesting  to  us,  If  thou,  O  Lord, 
shouldest  —  not  select  the  greatest  sinner  and  mark  his 
iniquity  —  but,  if  thou  shouldest  mark  iniquity,  yours,  mine, 
or  anybody's,  who  could  stand  ? 

This  servant,  we  read  in  the  next  clause,  was  "  brought 
unto  him,"  when  he  had  begun  to  reckon.  "  One  was 
brought  unto  him,  which  owed  him  ten  thousand  talents." 
This  also  is  expressive.  The  man  was  brought  unto  him ; 
he  never  would  have  come  himself.  The  last  thing  that  a 
debtor  that  cannot  pay  will  do  is  to  face  his  creditor.  What 
a  remarkable  fact  is  this  !  There  is  something  in  sin  that 
makes  it  skulk  and  shrink  into  a  nook,  and  court  darkness. 
A  man  that  cannot  bear  to  look  you  in  the  face  has  some- 
thing within  that  does  not  sit  comfortably  there.  "  He  that 
doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds  may  be  made 
manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God."  Thus  this  con- 
scious debtor  would  not  have  come  to  his  creditor  spontane- 
ously, of  his  own  freewill,  because  sin  dislikes  that  which 
reminds  it  of  its  turpitude.  And  if  this  was  true  of  this 
debtor  in  reference  to  his  creditor,  it  is  no  less  so  of  us 
debtors  in  reference  to  our  great  creditor,  God.  What  is 
the  character  of  sin?  It  keeps  the  sinner  at  a  distance 
from  God.  This  is  the  very  first  and  the  most  permanent 
effect  that  is  produced  by  sin  ;  so  that  instead  of  going  with 
our  sin  to  God's  mercy  to  have  it  expunged,  we  keep  at  a 
distance  from  God.  And  what  is  the  effect  of  our  keeping 
at  a  distance  from  him  ?  That  we  are  treasuring  up  addi- 
18 


206  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

tional  debt  and  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  Therefore 
it  is  never  until  we  see  God,  not  in  the  light  of  a  creditor, 
(that  is  the  natural  man's  light,)  but  in  the  light  of  a  Father, 
that  we  go  to  him.  It  is  not  until  we  see  God  in  his  pater- 
nal character  that  we  can  go  to  him  and  say,  ''  Forgive  us." 

We  read  in  the  25th  verse,  "  Forasmuch  as  he  had  not  to 
pay,  his  lord  commanded  him  to  be  sold,  and  his  wife,  and 
his  children,  and  a  payment  to  be  made."  By  the  Roman 
law^,  a  man's  wife  and  children  were  his  goods  and  chattels ; 
they  were  forfeited  by  his  crime,  and  might  be  made  slaves ; 
and  even  by  the  Jewish  law  the  punishment  reached  also 
those  that  were  beneath  him.  So  far  this  teaches  us  a  very 
important  lesson  :  that  sin  in  the  head  of  a  house,  or  of  a 
province,  or  of  a  nation,  brings  down  judgment  upon  inferior 
rulers,  upon  children,  upon  wife,  upon  all  that  is  his.  In 
other  words,  it  shows  that  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  is  not  a  mere  dry  Calvinistic  dogma,  as  it 
has  been  called,  but  that  it  is  providentially  and  actually 
true  ;  it  is  true  because  God  has  said  it,  and  obvious  because 
facts  prove  it. 

We  read  "  that  his  lord  commanded  him  to  be  sold,  his 
wife,  and  children,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  payment  to  be 
made."  It  is  not  said  that  these  when  sold  produced  money 
adequate  to  meet  the  just  demand ;  but  it  means  that  this 
would  be  an  instalment  of  it,  and  that  it  was  all  that  could 
be  got. 

There  was  one  resource  when  the  poor  debtor's  wife  and 
children  and  all  were  sold.  They  did  not  liquidate  the  debt, 
for  the  debtor,  we  read,  "  fell  down  and  worshipped  him." 
The  word  worship  here  does  not  mean  Divine  adoration  :  it 
is  often  used  to  signify  civil  homage  ;  nay,  in  one  passage  in 
the  Old  Testament  it  is  used  to  denote  both ;  "  They  wor- 
shipped both  the  Lord  and  the  king ; "  meaning  that  they 
worshipped  the  Lord  as  God,  and  gave  homage  to  the  king, 
that  civil  homage  which  belonged  to  him.    This  man,  there- 


MATTHEW   XVIII.  207 

fore,  fell  down,  giving  all  the  homage  to  the  ruler  that  that 
ruler  properly  required,  and  said,  "Have  patience  with  me, 
and  I  will  pay  thee  all,"  and  the  subsequent  facts  of  the 
parable  show  that  it  was  so.  But  this  man  is  not  the  only 
one  that  says  so.  Is  it  in  human  liabilities  only  that  we 
ask  a  little  time,  and  promise  to  pay  all  ?  Are  not  these  the 
very  words  that  come  from  the  lips  of  every  unhumbled 
sinner  in  the  sight  of  God  at  the  present  day  ?  is  it  not  his 
persuasion  that  he  needs  not  so  much  forgiveness  as  time  ? 
that  he  needs  not  so  much  the  debt  to  be  cancelled,  as  a 
little  more  patience  in  order  that  he  may  make  it  up?  It  is 
this  self-righteous  spirit  which  is  the  key  to  the  harsh  treat- 
ment that  this  man  dealt  to  his  fellow-servant  in  the  very 
same  circumstances  in  which  he  Avas.  The  constant  cry  of 
sinners  is,  "  Have  patience  with  us."  The  self-righteous 
man  hopes  to  do  it  by  his  own  exertions ;  the  monk  and  the 
recluse  hope  to  pay  all  by  macerations,  fastings,  and  bodily 
torture  ;  and  the  priest  hopes  to  pay  all  by  an  appeal  to 
that  great  ecclesiastical  fund,  called  the  fund  of  supererogation, 
which  has  been  sold  and  purchased  at  so  much  per  cent., 
just  like  public  stocks  upon  the  exchange  or  in  the  market. 
Each  has  something  that  he  falls  back  upon,  as  the  grand 
treasury  out  of  which  he  hopes  to  get  enough  to  pay  all  the 
demands  of  his  Lord. 

The  lord  of  that  servant  was  better  to  him  than  he 
deserved.  We  are  told  that  he  loosed  him,  and  had  mercy 
upon  him.  This  indicates  that  he,  his  wife,  and  his  children, 
were  in  bondage,  or  why  should  the  term  "  loosed  "  be  used  ? 
Probably  they  were  all  cast  into  prison  ;  and  probably,  nay, 
there  is  no  doubt  that,  during  their  imprisonment,  the  ser- 
vant learned  a  lesson  that  he  had  not  learned  previously, 
that  nothing  he  could  do  in  his  self-righteousness  would  ever 
give  payment  of  the  heavy  liabilities  that  he  owed  to  his 
lord.  Do  we  not  often  discover  by  night  what  we  have 
missed  by  day  ?     Do  we  not  often  learn  lessons  in  trouble 


208  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

that  we  should  never  have  learned  in  prosperity  ?  We  read 
that  the  lord  of  that  servant  forgave  him  all.  Thus  the 
reckoning  that  alarmed  the  servant  led  to  that  which  indeed 
comforted  him.  What  seemed  to  him  unmitigated  judgment, 
was  plainly  only  mercy  in  reversion. 

Having  thus  learned  the  character  of  this  superior  ser- 
vant, and  the  treatment  he  received  from  his  master,  we 
must  follow  him  in  his  after  life,  and  see  what  we  should 
have  done,  had  we  been  in  the  very  same  circumstances. 
That  servant,  we  are  told,  "  went  out "  —  that  same  servant, 
the  very  last  man  we  should  have  expected  to  have  been 
guilty  of  it  — "  and  found  one  of  his  fellow-servants  who 
owed  him  a  hundred  pence  "  (about  a  hundred  times  seven- 
pence  halfpenny).  "  He  laid  hands  on  him,  and  took  him 
by  the  throat,  saying,  Pay  me  that  thou  owest."  Mark  the 
first  expression,  he  went  out.  This  is  not  without  meaning. 
When  is  it  that  we  forget  our  obligation  to  God,  and  our 
responsibilities  to  him  ?  When,  like  Cain,  we  go  out  from 
God's  presence.  Where  is  the  place  of  safety  and  of  holi- 
ness, the  place  of  strength  and  joy  ?  The  answer  is,  In 
the  presence  of  God. 

The  servant's  treatment  of  his  fellow-servant  was,  clearly, 
extremely  harsh  and  cruel,  as  well  as  unbecoming  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  he  himself  was  placed.  It  indicated  a 
total  renunciation  of  the  position  of  favor  he  occupied.  He 
had  a  right  to  exact  the  hundred  pence.  He  might  have 
gone  into  any  court  of  justice  and  made  that  servant  pay. 
There  was  no  doubt  of  that.  The  superior  servant  did  not 
demand  from  the  inferior  servant  that  which  was  not  his 
due.  He  had  a  perfect  right  to  it.  Yet  the  exaction  of 
right  may  not  always  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God.  Some 
one  has  made  the  remark,  summa  justitia  may  be  summa 
injuria.  The  highest  justice  may  be  in  the  sight  of  God 
the  highest  injury.  At  all  events  the  man  wished  to  have 
one  treatment  for  Iwmself,  and  to  administer  another  treat- 


MATTHEW  XVIII.  209 

ment  for  those  who  were  subject  to  him.  He  wanted  that 
God  should  deal  with  him  by  grace,  but  that  he  should  have 
the  convenient  licence  of  dealing  with  all  mankind  by  jus- 
tice. He  desired  that  God  should  forgive  all  his  demands 
on  him,  but  that  he  should  have  the  most  convenient  permis- 
sion to  exact  all  his  rights  upon  his  fellow-creatures.  He 
wanted  to  be  meted  himself  by  one  measure,  but  would  like 
to  mete  out  a  very  different  measure  to  others.  He  would 
have  every  thing  for  nothing  himself;  but  he  wanted  to  let 
nobody  have  any  thing  for  nothing  from  him.  When  we 
look  to  God  as  simply  an  exactor  of  duties,  we  go  forth  in 
the  same  spirit,  and  are  ourselves  the  greatest  exactors  of 
duties  from  others ;  but  when,  on  the  other  hand,  we  learn 
to  look  upon  God,  not  in  the  light  of  an  exactor  of  aught, 
but  as  a  giver  of  all,  we  become  holier  and  freer  ourselves. 
By  not  thinking  of  God  commanding  at  all,  but  by  thinking 
constantly  of  God  as  giving,  we  shall  be  holiest  and  happi- 
est too. 

When  the  fellow-servants  saw  how  he  acted,  what  did. 
they  do  ?  Did  they  go  and  smite  him  and  abuse  him,  whis- 
per about  him,  put  a  paragraph  in  the  newspapers  in  order 
to  damage  him  ?  No  ;  but  it  is  beautifully  said,  "  they  were 
sorry."  God  may  be  wrathful,  man  can  only  be  sorry.  God 
is  the  judge,  who  can  pronounce  ;  we  are  the  fellow-servants, 
that  should  only  be  grieved  when  a  fellow-servant  sins  against 
God  or  ourselves.  This  is  the  true  light  in  which  to  look  at 
sin.  What  is  a  man's  greatest  misfortune  ?  That  he  should 
be  left  to  sin  and  error.  It  is  indeed  a  great  misfortune.  It 
ought  not  to  provoke  our  judgment,  but  to  excite  our  sym- 
pathy, calling  forth,  not  denunciations,  but  tenderness ;  nof; 
wrath,  but  the  sorrow  that  fellow-servants  felt. 

We  read  that  the  lord  of  that  servant  interfered,  and  said, 
"  O  thou  wicked  servant,  I  forgave  thee  all  that  debt,  because 
thou  desiredst  me  :  shouldest  not  thou  also  have  had  compas- 
sion on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on  thee  ?  And 
18* 


210  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

his  lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to  the  tormentors,  till 
he  should  pay  all  that  was  due  unto  him."  The  king  ad- 
dressed him  in  language  the  most  severe.  No  man  is  so 
wicked  as  he  that  sins  against  light,  excepting  the  man  that 
sins  against  mercy.  When  we  have  received  great  mercies 
and  trample  them  underfoot,  great  blessings,  and  despise 
them,  and  treat  them  as  if  they  were  no  blessings  at  all, 
surely  we  grievously  sin  against  God.  Slighted  mercies 
always  issue  in  the  sharpest  judgments.  Hence,  when  those 
who  know  the  truth,  and  have  sat  under  the  preaching  of  it, 
go  out  and  deny  that  truth,  they  are  the  guiltiest  of  all.  This 
man  was  a  type  of  many  a  selfish  Christian  —  he  could  pray 
.one  part  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  but  not  the  rest. 


Note.  —  [28.]  Perhaps  we  must  not  lay  stress  on  t^e/i&ihv,  as  indi- 
cating any  wrong  frame  of  mind  ah-eady  begun,  as  Theophylact  does. 
The  sequel  shows  how  completely  he  had  "  gone  out ''  from  the  pi-es- 
ence  of  his  lord.  At  all  events  the  word  corresponds  to  the  time 
when  the  trial  of  our  principle  takes  place  ;  when  we  "  go  out  "  from 
the  presence  of  God  in  prayer  and  spiritual  exercises  into  the  world. 
We  may  observe  that  forgiveness  of  sin  does  not  imply  a  change  of 
heart  or  principle  in  the  sinner.  The  fellow-servant  is  probably  not  in 
the  same  station  as  himself,  but  none  the  less  a  fellow-servant.  The 
insignificance  of  the  sum  is  to  show  us  how  trifling  any  offence  against 
one  another  is  in  comparison  to  the  vastness  of  our  sin  against  God.  — 
Alford. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

POPULARITY      OP     TRUTH  —  DIVORCES  —  CHRIST      ANSWERS      FROM 

SCRIPTURE god's     TOLERATION     OF    EVIL BABES     BROUGHT 

TO    JESUS  —  THE    RICH   TOUXG     MAN  —  SACRIFICES   FOR    CHRIST, 
AND    REWARD. 

Jesus,  it  appears,  left  Galilee,  where  he  had  been  teach- 
ing, and  crossed  the  Jordan  "  into  the  coasts  of  Judaea." 
Pleased  with  his  miracles  and  impressed  by  his  teachings, 
"  great  multitudes,"  we  are  told,  "  followed  him."  Wherever 
an  earnest  word  is  spoken,  a  word  that  goes  to  a  man's  heart, 
and  awakens  within  him  a  sense  of  his  lost  greatness,  and 
the  possibility  of  reinstating  himself,  there  will  be  multi- 
tudes to  follow  and  to  listen.  It  appears  that  such  of  them 
as  were  diseased  he  healed. 

The  Pharisees  also  came  to  him  ;  but  they  came,  not  ask- 
ing to  be  cured  of  their  diseases,  nor  to  be  satisfied  in  their 
difiiculties,  but  with  their  old  habit,  "  tempting  him,"  that  is, 
endeavoring  to  ensnare  him.  They  said  unto  him,  "  Is  it 
lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife  for  every  cause  ?  " 
The  word  "  every  "  is  a  wrong  translation.  The  Greek 
adjective  TTatrav,  in  this  peculiar  construction,  means  "any." 
And  therefore  the  translation  ought  to  be,  "  Is  it  lawful 
for  a  man  to  put  away  his  wife  for  any  cause  that  seems  to 
him  satisfactory  ?  " 

Now,  you  ask,  how  could  this  be  tempting  Jesus  ?  It  was 
a  very  plain  and  Scriptural  question,  and  the  ansv/er,  one 
would  suppose,  must  be  free  from  any  risk,  and  a  very  easy 


212  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

one.  The  secret  of  the  difficulty  in  answering  was  this.  At 
that  time  Jesus  had  entered  the  territory  of  Herod  Antipas, 
who  had  put  away  his  wife,  and  was  living  with  a  woman 
who  was  not  his  wife ;  and  therefore,  they  thought  that 
Jesus  by  their  question  would  be  put  in  a  great  dilemma, 
and  either  way  get  into  trouble.  If  he  had  said  it  was  law- 
ful, he  would  have  been  sanctioning  sin  ;  and  if  he  said  it 
was  not  lawful,  he  would  be  put  in  prison  for  offending 
Herod,  as  John  was.  Jesus  answered  them,  however,  evi- 
dently irrespective  of  any  governing  power,  and  fearless  of 
any  snare.  He  ever  showed,  what  we  should  ever  feel,  that 
the  path  of  truth  and  right  and  duty  and  principle,  is  always, 
in  the  long  run,  the  path  that  leads  to  safety.  "  He  answered 
and  said  unto  them.  Have  ye  not  read,  that  he  which  made 
them  at  the  beginning  made  them  male  and  female  ?  "  Now, 
mark  how  striking  this  is.  When  Jesus  was  asked  the  most 
intricate  and  delicate  questions,  instead  of  answering  from 
the  depths  of  his  own  wisdom,  as  he  might  have  done,  he 
referred  the  inquirers  almost  invariably  to  the  Bible.  I  do 
not  know  a  more  striking  proof  of  the  greatness  and  value 
of  this  Book,  than  that  the  living  Author  of  it  referred 
every  question  for  a  solution  to  "  It  is  written,"  "  How  read- 
est  thou  ?  "  And  if  He,  the  Author  and  the  Inspirer  of  the 
Book,  so  valued  it,  does  it  become  us  to  put  tradition  on  a 
level  with  it,  or  to  neglect,  or  undervalue  it  ?  It  is  the  Book 
of  books.  "  Have  ye  not  read,  that  he  which  made  them  at 
the  beginning  made  them  male  and  female  ?  "  There  is 
here  first  of  all  a  direct  and  distinct  recognition  of  Genesis 
as  inspired.  Secondly,  there  is  a  distinct  recognition  of 
Genesis  as  a  literal  narrative.  You  know  that  some  of  the 
Germans,  who  try  to  get  reasons  for  saying  all  sorts  of 
strange  things,  assert  that  the  book  of  Genesis  is  fivdog,  a 
myth  or  fable  ;  but  I  need  not  say  that  their  conclusion,  like 
their  premises,  is  altogether  false.  We  have  here,  however, 
the  Lord  of  glory  distinctly  asserting  that  the  recorded  facts 


MATTHEW    XIX.  213 

in  the  book  of  Genesis  are,  not  parabolic  or  a  fable,  but 
literal  and  historical  events ;  and  also  that  the  historian  of 
those  facts  was  an  inspired  penman  ;  and  therefore,  that  the 
book  he  wrote  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  inspired  Word  of 
God.  Such  incidental  allusions  as  these  are  most  precious. 
They  are,  not  only  the  New  Testament  casting  light  upon 
the  Old,  but  the  New  Testament  pronouncing  that  itself  with 
the  Old  are  the  twin  witnesses  of  the  will  and  word  of  God, 
and  the  duty  and  obligations  of  man. 

You  will  see  by  what  our  Lord  refers  to,  that  man  was 
made  originally  to  have  one  wife,  —  that  this  was  God's 
ordinance  and  great  law,  —  that  it  not  only  lies  in  the  con- 
stitution of  human  nature,  but  that  it  is  also  sanctioned  and 
consecrated  by  the  express  record  of  God.  It  is  very  re- 
markable that  in  nations  where  this  great  law  has  been 
overlooked  or  trodden  underfoot,  the  results  have  been  inva- 
riably, even  physically. and  temporally,  the  most  disastrous. 
Such  nations  have  utterly  degenerated  and  declined,  till 
they  have  sunk  into  the  most  contemptible  of  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  Around  us  are  many  proofs.  Our  Lord  having 
thus  given  an  answer  from  the  Book  that  they  themselves 
dared  not  repudiate,  and  from  that  part  of  the  Book  which 
neither  Sadducee  nor  Pharisee  dared  reject ;  the  Pharisees 
of  course  could  not  tell  Herod  that  Jesus  had  said  so,  but 
they  must  tell  him,  if  they  reported  the  conversation  at  all, 
that  Moses  said  so  long  before,  and  that  Jesus  quoted  only 
their  own  Scriptures. 

But  still  cavilling,  they  said,  "  Why  did  Moses  then  com- 
mand to  give  a  writing  of  divorcement,  and  to  put  her 
away  ?  "  Why  was  divorce  so  easily  accomplished,  and  so 
clearly  permitted  by  Moses?  Our  Lord  gives  them  an 
answer  which  unfolds  a  principle.  He  says,  "  Moses,  be- 
cause of  the  hardness  of  your  hearts,  suffered  you  to  put 
away  your  wives ;  but  from  the  beginning  it  was  not  so." 
God  suffers  many  things  which  he  does  not  sanction.     He 


214  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

allows  things  to  be  in  the  infancy  of  the  race,  which  he 
expressly  reprobates  and  prohibits  in  its  maturer  growth 
and  development,  and  always  in  principle.  God  suffered, 
not  sanctioned,  this  in  special  circumstances,  and  for  special 
purposes  —  the  hardness  of  the  people's  heart  rendering 
such  permission,  not  necessary,  but  at  least  expedient,  in 
the  circumstances  in  which  it  occurred.  We  must  not  sup- 
pose that  because  God  suffered  it  then,  it  was  meant  to  be 
always  so,  or  that  it  was  even  right ;  for  our  Lord  refers 
back  to  the  first  institution,  and  shows  what  the  law  is,  what 
duty  ever  was,  what  the  law  should  be  in  Herod's  palace, 
and  what  the  law,  when  man  is  most  enlightened,  ever  will 
be,  and  what  in  our  land  it  now  is.  But  that  there  may  be 
no  mistake,  and  lest  they  should  suppose  that  the  permission 
or  sufferance  of  Moses  was  to  be  regarded  as  one  for  after 
ages,  the  great  Lawgiver  steps  in,  and  gives  to  the  written 
word  its  complement,  perfection,  and  meaning,  by  saying, 
"  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  except  it  be  for  forni- 
cation, and  shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery  :  and 
whoso  marrieth  her  which  is  put  away  doth  commit 
adultery."  That  is  the  laAv  of  the  marriage  relationship 
now. 

His  disciples  then  said,  evidently  preferring  the  laxer 
mode  that  was  suffered  by  Moses  for  the  hardness  of  their 
hearts,  "If  the  case  of  the  man  be  so  with  his  wife,"  that 
is,  if  he  is  to  be  tied  to  one  woman  all  his  life,  "  it  is  not 
good  to  marry."  But  Jesus  said,  "All  men  cannot  receive 
this  saying,  save  they  to  whom  it  is  given  ; "  and  then  he 
shows  that  marriage  must  be  left  to  every  one's  taste  ;  that 
there  is  no  excessive  sanctity  in  celibacy,  and  no  compul- 
sion to  marry ;  but  that  every  one,  priest  and  people,  must 
act  according  to  their  own  personal  discretion,  constitution, 
feelings,  nature  ;  either  come  under  the  law  by  which  mar- 
riage is  regulated,  or  have  nothing  to  do  with  it  at  all. 

"Then  there  were  brought  unto  him  little  children"  — 


MATTHEW    XIX.  215 

■Koidia,  babes  — "  that  he  should  put  his  hands  on  them," 
for  they  were  incapable  of  being  taught.  But  "  the  disci- 
ples rebuked  them."  They  could  not  see  in  what  way  these 
babes  could  receive  a  blessing.  But  our  blessed  Lord  knew 
better,  and  he  said,  "  Suffer  little  children,  and  forbid  them 
not,  to  come  unto  me :  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  Now,  w^hilst  there  is  a  most  respectable  and 
excellent  section  of  the  Christian  Church  who  say  that  bap- 
tism should  not  be  administered  to  infants,  it  does  seem  to 
me  that  it  is  a  most  impressive  sight  to  see,  as  we  do  in  this 
church  from  time  to  time,  parents  bring  their  babes,  and 
present  them  to  Christ  amidst  the  prayers  of  his  assembled 
people,  all  uniting  in  supplicating  the  blessing  of  Him  who 
still  lays  his  hands  upon  these  tiny  babes,  and  pronounces 
blessings  that  will  last  through  life,  and,  it  may  be,  through- 
out eternity  itself  At  all  events,  I  can  see  no  reason  why 
it  should  not  be  so ;  and  I  must  say  that  our  Baptist  breth- 
ren are  to  be  pitied,  not  blamed,  for  not  being  able  to  see 
their  way  to  the  administration  and  enjoyment  of  so  beauti- 
ful a  rite  as  that  of  bringing  their  little  ones,  and  thus  early 
and  publicly  dedicating  the  flower  in  the  bud  to  Him  who 
alone  can  bless  them  and  make  them  happy.  I  have  under- 
stood that  some  Baptists  make  a  sort  of  compromise,  by 
having  what  they  call  a  dedication  of  their  children,  dis- 
tinct from  baptism.  Now  that  does  seem  to  me  very  tender 
ground  indeed.  I  do  not  like  to  see  any  rite  that  Christ 
has  not  sanctioned.  If  they  go  so  far,  why  not  all  the 
way  ?  I  can  prove,  I  think  demonstrably,  that  from  the 
earliest  period  of  the  Christian  Church  infants  were  bap- 
tized. The  Baptists  are  right,  no  doubt,  in  saying  that 
adults  also  were  baptized  ;  but  it  is  singular  that  one  of  the 
earliest  controversies  that  arose  is  one  that  shows  that 
infants  were  b^tized.  The  great  dispute  discussed  in  very 
early  days  was,  whether  children  should  be  baptized  on  the 
eighth  day,  as  was  the  case  in  circumcision  in  the  Jewish 


216  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

economy,  or  whether  it  would  be  proper  to  administer  the 
rite  on  some  future  or  other  day.  A  council  met  to  settle 
this  very  absurd  question,  I  admit,  but  the  question  indi- 
cates a  prior  state  of  things,  namely,  that  it  was  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Church  to  baptize  infants.  Augustine  reasons 
on  the  hypothesis  that  infant  baptism  was  universal.  Bap- 
tism by  water  is  not  regeneration ;  it  is,  like  circumcision 
among  the  Jews,  an  admission  into  the  outer  kingdom,  just 
as  regeneration  of  the  heart,  or  baptism  by  the  Spirit,  is 
admission  into  the  inner  kingdom.  But  the  Jew,  having 
previously  had  his  children,  by  the  rite  of  circumcision, 
admitted  into  the  outward  kingdom,  would  naturally  say, 
when  christianized,  "  If  my  children  were  admitted  as 
members  of  the  outward  and  visible  church  in  a  darker 
economy,  why  should  they  be  inhibited  from  being  admitted 
in  a  brighter,  more  beneficent  and  joyous  one  ?  "  It  does 
appear  to  me  that  the  real  thing  we  should  expect  is,  not 
the  command  to  baptize  infants,  but  the  prohibition,  if  it 
were  unlawful.  It  had  been  the  habit,  long  before,  to  cir- 
cumcise infants,  i.  e.  admit  into  the  visible  church  ;  and  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  prohibition  of  infant  baptism  is  to  me 
the  irresistible  proof  that  it  was  lawful  as  it  was  the  [)rac- 
tice  in  primitive  times,  and  that  infants  so  baptized  were 
admitted  into  the  outward  and  visible  kingdom  of  heaven : 
at  all  events,  it  is  still  true,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,"  (I  think  baptism  the  best  way  of  doing  so,)  "  and 
forbid  them  not,"  whether  you  be  Piedobaptist  or  Anti- 
paedobaptist ;  "for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  I 
know  that  a  text  is  quoted  against  infant  baptism  (for  it  is 
right  to  state  all  those  things,  even  though  good  men  should 
differ  about  them)  which  I  hold  is  in  its  favor,  —  "  Go  ye, 
therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing."  Here,  they 
say,  teaching  is  to  be  first,  and  baptism  next.  But  if  our 
Baptist  friends  would  refer  to  the  Greek  Testament,  they 
would  see  that  if  I  wanted  to  prove  infant  baptism,  I  could 


MATTHEW    XIX.  217 

not  quote  a  better  text  than  that ;  for  the  word  "  teach  "  at 
the  beginning  is  literally  "  discipleize,"  that  is,  not  teach 
the  mind,  but  make  a  disciple  by  some  external  sign.  "  Go 
ye,  therefore,  and  discipleize  all  nations,"  by  "baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Then  it  is  added,  "  teaching  them  "  (i.  e. 
after  baptism)  "  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you."  The  discipleizing  is  by  baptism,  the 
teaching  is  subsequent  to  the  baptism. 

Then  one  came  to  Him  and  asked  what  he  should  do  to 
have  eternal  life  ;  and  Jesus  told  him  what  the  law  required. 
He  thought  he  had  done  all,  and  could  do  no  more  ;  but 
when  Jesus  tested  his  love,  he  went  away  sorrowful,  for  he 
was  very  rich,  and  gave  up  his  duty  —  his  possession  he 
could  not.  And  then  Jesus  made  the  remark,  "  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  that  a  rich  man  shall  hardly  " —  not  altogether  im- 
possible—  "  enter  into- the  kingdom  of  heaven."  But  what 
is  a  rich  man  ?  Not  a  man  who  has  wealth,  but  who  has 
excessive  love  of  that  wealth.  It  is  not  possession  of  a 
thing  that  may  constitute  a  disqualification  for  heaven,  but 
it  is  the  excessive  idolatry  of  the  thing.  A  man  who  has  only 
lOOZ.  in  the  Savings  Bank  may  be  vastly  more  covetous,  and 
in  this  sense  richer,  than  a  man  who  has  10,000Z.  in  the 
Bank  of  England.  If  you  make  much  of  your  money  in 
your  heart,  you  have  that  love  of  it  which  is  the  root  of  all 
evil ;  but  if  you  make  little  of  it  there,  then  you  have  as 
though  you  had  not,  and  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it. 

A  camel,  a  very  large  animal,  may  as  soon  pass  through 
a  needle's  eye,  a  minute  aperture,  as  a  rich  man  enter  heav- 
en. "  Who,  then,  can  be  saved?"  Jesus  said,  "  With  men 
this  is  impossible  ;  but  with  God  all  things  are  possible." 
Then  Peter,  ever  first  to  speak,  whether  to  state  an  objec- 
tion or  a  truth,  said,  "  Behold,  we  have  forsaken  all."  What 
had  he  forsaken?  Simply  his  worn-out  nets,  and  his  trade 
as  a  fisherman.  That  was  not  much,  but  it  was  his  all ; 
ID 


218  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

and  there  may  be  as  great  a  pang  in  giving  np  a  little  hut, 
which  is  our  all,  as  may  ever  have  been  felt  by  the  great 
lord  or  lady  in  giving  up  a  noble  palace,  which  was  their  all 
also.  And  Peter  said  truly,  "  Behold,  we  have  forsaken  all, 
and  followed  thee  ;  what  shall  we  have  therefore  ?  "  Per- 
haps there  was  a  little  of  self-righteousness  in  that.  "  And 
Jesus  said  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  ye  which 
have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration  when  the  Son  of 
man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit 
upon  twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel." 
But  notice  the  words  "  in  the  regeneration."  Some  persons 
read  it,  "  Ye  which  have  followed  me  in  the  regeneration ; " 
but  it  is,  "  Ye  which  have  followed  me,  when  th^  Son  of 
man  shall  sit  in  the  throne  of  his  glory  in  the  regeneration," 
in  the  Millennium  —  the  Regenesis,  "also  shall  sit  upon 
twelve  thrones."  In  fact  there  is  a  parallelism  made  between 
man  and  the  world,  and  it  is  a  very  remarkable  one.  This 
earth  shall  have  its  baptism  just  as  truly  as  man.  This 
earth  shall  have  its  regeneration  just  as  truly  as  the  human 
heart.  Man  is  a  little  world,  and  the  world  is  but  the  great 
man.  The  one  is  the  type,  the  foreshadow,  the  microcosm 
of  the  other.  And  a  day  comes  when  this  earth  shall  have 
sin  expelled  from  every  crevice,  the  fever  that  torments  it 
from  every  part.  The  returning  presence  of  the  Lord  of 
glory  will  give  it  that  lasting  regeneration  that  shall  place  it 
again  in  the  orbit,  out  of  which  it  has  wandered  eccentrically, 
reunite  it  again  to  the  great  continent  of  heaven,  from  which 
it  has  been  broken  off,  and  make  it  no  longer  an  outcast 
colony,  but  part  and  parcel  of  the  wide  realm  of  glory  and 
beauty,  basking  in  the  sunshine,  and  guided  by  the  sceptre 
and  the  sway  of  Him  who  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  In  that  day,  says  our  Lord,  all  those  who  have  done 
preeminent  services  shall  have  preeminence  in  glory.  There 
will  be  different  rewards  and  degrees  of  glory  in  heaven. 
That  is  plainly  indicated  in  the  Word  of  God.     Yet  all  will 


MATTHEW   XIX.  219 

be  by  grace,  none  of  merit.  "  And  you,  the  twelve,  who 
have  been  foremost  in  the  fight,  who  have  occupied  the  van 
of  the  noble  army  of  martyrs,  who  have  more  before  you 
than  I  dare  now  tell  you,  and  will  have  to  die  for  my  sake 

—  you  who  shall  be  compelled  to  leave  houses,  and  brethren, 
and  sisters,  and  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  children, 
and  lands,  and  all  that  you  have,  shall  not  go  without  a  cor- 
responding and  a  gracious  reward." 

Let  me  just  notice  in  this  29th  verse,  a  slight  indication 
of  what  Christ  asserted  in  the  beginning  —  that  one  man 
and  one  woman,  as  husband  and  wife,  is  the  law  of  the  Chris- 
tian economy.  One  likes  to  trace  these  incidental  proofs. 
"  Every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses  "  —  a  man  may  have 
many  houses,  —  "  or  brethren,  or  sisters" —  a  man  may  have 
many  brothers  and  sisters,  —  "  or  father,  or  mother  "  —  he 
c&n  have  but  one  father  and  mother,  —  "  or  wife  "  —  imply- 
hig  that  a  man  should  have  but  one  wife.  Therefore  monog- 
amy, or  the  marriage  of  one  wife,  is  enunciated  where  one 
would  not  naturally  expect  it.  Such,  he  says,  "  shall  receive 
an  hundred-fold,  and  shall  inherit  "  —  not  deserve  by  merit 

—  "everlasting  life."  But  who  inherit?  It  is  not  merit 
that  makes  a  son  succeed  his  father,  but  relationship  ;  and 
therefore,  these  are  the  sons  of  God. 

But  many  who  think  they  are  first,  shall  find  themselves 
last ;  and  many  who  think  themselves  lowliest,  shall  find 
themselves  highest.  We  shall  meet  many  around  the  throne 
of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,  whom  we,  in  our  uncharitableness 
and  bigotry,  excluded  ;  and  we  shall  miss  some,  whom,  in 
our  latitudinarianism,  we  were  disposed  certainly  to  antici- 
pate there. 

There  is  added  the  reflection, "  The  last  shall  be  first,  and 
the  first  shall  be  last."  I  differ  very  much  from  the  common 
interpretation  of  this  verse.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  right, 
but  I  shall  state  my  view  of  the  case,  and  leave  the  reader 
to  decide.     '•  The  last  shall  be  first,  and  the  first  last ;  for 


220  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

many  be  called,  but  few  chosen."  First,  as  regards  the  ex* 
pression,  "  the  last  shall  be  first : "  1  do  not  think  the  idea 
of  rejection  is  contemplated  at  all.  All  the  laborers  are 
called  into  the  vineyard ;  not  one  rejects  the  invitation ; 
they  are  all  admitted ;  there  is  nothing  stated  in  the  conduct 
of  one  that  is  not  contained  in  the  conduct  of  another  ;  there 
is  no  distinction  as  to  their  toils,  none  as  to  their  merits ; 
there  is  simply  a  difference  as  to  the  time  when  they  were 
called  into  the  vineyard.  It  is  then  said,  "'Many  that  are 
last  shall  be  first."  Those  that  came  in  toward  night  may 
yet  have  the  first  reward ;  and  those  that  came  in  early  in  the 
morning  may  have  the  last  reward.  I  conceive  this  to  be 
fairly  illustrated  in  such  a  case  as  this :  —  Many  persons  are 
early  called  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  They  hear  the  Gos- 
pel in  early  years  ;  they  cordially  embrace  it ;  their  hearts 
come  under  the  Divine  influence ;  and  quietly  and  gently 
they  pass  through  life  blameless,  —  not  specially  distinguish- 
ed, nor  characterized  to  the  extent  to  which  they  should  be, 
by  making  sacrifices  for  the  Gospel,  but  still  Christians 
ripening  for  glory.  Others,  again,  hear  the  Gospel  call  at 
thirty  or  forty  years  of  age  —  nay,  some  at  seventy.  They 
joy  in  the  Gospel — they  embrace  it  cordially;  but  they 
concentrate  into  the  last  hours  of  their  life  a  degree  of 
energy,  an  amount  of  vigor,  a  singleness  of  eye,  a  simplicity 
of  purpose,  a  devotedness  of  heart,  that  are  greater,  though 
not  longer,  than  all  the  efforts  and  sacrifices  of  those  that 
were  called  before  them.  Such,  for  instance,  was  the  case 
with  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  was  called,  it  may  be,  at  forty 
years  of  age  ;  yet  he  was  more  abundant  in  labors  than  all 
the  apostles.  Such  was  the  case  with  John  Newton.  He 
was  called  unto  the  Gospel  at  a  late  age  ;  yet  that  man's  life 
was  a  life  of  wonderful  vigor.  When  we  look  at  what  some 
of  these  men  have  been,  we  must  be  astonished  at  what 
human  energy  is  capable  of,  when  sustained  and  sanctified 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.    Now  then,  Paul,  called  at  forty, 


MATTHEW   XIX.  2^1 

may  have  a  richer  reward  than  John,  called  young ;  and 
John  Newton,  called  late  in  life,  may  have  a  higher  seat  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  many  who  were  called  in  boy- 
hood, and  have  walked  consistently  to  the  end  of  their  pil- 
grimage. 

Just  as  there  are  degrees  of  suffering  among  the  lost, 
there  are  degrees  of  glory  among  the  saved.  "In  my 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions ; "  and  these  mansions 
of  greater  or  lesser  size,  of  brighter  or  lesser  splendor. 
Each  heart  shall  be  full ;  but  one  heart  may  have  a  ca- 
pacity for  joy  which  another  heart  has  not.  Each  shall  be 
happy ;  and  yet  one  shall  be  happier,  nobler,  and  greater 
than  another. 

But  that  part  of  the  passage  on  which  I  would  differ 
from  the  common  interpretation  —  and  I  am  constrained  to 
do  so,  just  from  searching  out  from  the  New  Testament  — 
is  the  words,  "  many  are  called." 

I  have  read  several  sermons  on  this  passage,  and  they  all 
understand  by  it,  that  many  are  called  to  accept  the  Gos- 
pel, but  only  a  few,  being  the  elect  according  to  grace, 
accept  it,  and  are  thus  saved.  I  do  not  think  it  has  any 
such  meaning. 

They  say  that  the  interpretation  is,  that  many  are  called 
by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  but  that  only  a  few  accept  it. 
Now,  my  reason  for  differing  from  this  interpretation  is, 
not  that  I  disbelieve  election  —  the  very  reverse;  1  believe 
the  doctrine  to  be  perfectly  true.  I  cannot  comprehend  it, 
it  is  true ;  and  it  would  be  a  wonder  if  any  finite  mind 
could  comprehend  all  the  displays  of  God's  infinite  proce- 
dure. I  cannot  say,  reader,  whether  you  be  elect  or  not ; 
but  this  I  can  say,  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth 
from  all  sins."  I  cannot  say  whether  you  be  elect  or  not ; 
but  this  I  can  say,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Make  you  sure  of  the  contact 
of  the  Gospel  with  your  individual  heart,  and  you  may 
17* 


222  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

make  the  lofty  and  mysterious  corollary,  —  "  Yours  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  But  I  conceive  this  expression  has 
nothing  to  do  with  election  ;  for  the  parable  does  not  speak 
of  any  who  refuse  the  invitation,  but  of  those  only  that 
came  into  the  vineyard :  for  it  says  that  all  who  were  called 
on  this  occasion  cordially  embraced  the  call,  and  entered 
into  the  vineyard,  and  spent  their  time  in  it. 

But  the  best  way  of  ascertaining  it  is  by  finding  the 
meaning  of  the  word  "call."  I  have  taken  the  Greek 
Lexicon,  and  searched  out  every  instance  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament where  it  is  employed ;  and  I  have  come  to  the  con- 
clusion, that  in  not  one  instance  does  call  mean  call  to 
believe,  addressed  to  them  who  do  not  believe,  and  no 
more ;  in  every  instance  it  means  or  involves  being  a 
Christian.  The-  word  is  kItito^.  In  Rom.  ii.,  "  called  to  be 
an  apostle."  Again,  in  the  same  chapter,  ver.  46,  "  called 
of  Jesus  Christ."  Again,  at  ver.  7,  "  called  to  be  saints." 
He  is  speaking  of  them  that  actually  were  saints.  What 
does  he  mean  by  being  called  to  be  an  apostle  ?  Being 
made  an  apostle.  Or  being  called  to  be  saints  ?  Being 
made  or  constituted  saints.  So  again,  in  Rom.  viii.  28,  he 
is  speaking  of  all  things  working  together  for  good  to  them 
that  love  God  —  "  to  them  who  are  the  called  according  to 
his  purpose."  These  are  unquestionably  true  believers. 
Again,  in  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  i.  1,  "  To 
them  that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be  saints." 
These  must  be  true  Christians,  as  they  are  described  to  be 
sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus.  Again,  in  ver.  24,  "  But  unto 
them  which  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ  the 
power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God."  And  then  in  the 
Rev.  xvii.  14,  describing  true  Christians,  "They  that  are 
with  him  are  called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful."  These  are 
Christ's  own  people.  Thus  I  have  given,  I  think,  nearly 
every  instance  of  the  word  Khrk-,  in  its  singular  or  plural 
number,  occurring  in  the  New  Testam^,nt;   and  in  every 


MATTHEW    XIX.  223 

instance  it  means  truly  converted.  I  think,  therefore,  I  am 
warranted  in  putting  this  interpretation  on  the  text,  seeing 
the  whole  usage  of  Scripture  speaks  in  the  same  way. 

I  understand,  therefore,  that  "  many  are  called  "  implies, 
not  that  many  are  called  who  reject  the  Gospel,  but  that 
there  are  many  Christians,  but  few  preeminently,  distinc- 
tively, peculiarly  so.  It  is  a  difference  of  degree  in  Chris- 
tian character,  not  a  distinction  between  those  who  are  not 
Christians  and  those  who  are.  Many  are  called,  that  is, 
there  are  many  Christians,  but  few  are  the  chosen.  The 
origin  of  the  word  is  the  same  —  that  is,  distinctively,  em- 
phatically, peculiarly  called,  so  as  to  rise  and  tower  above 
the  rest,  like  Paul  in  the  college  of  apostles,  or  like  preem- 
inent Christian  ministers  and  Christian  people  among  the 
multitude  around  them. 


Note.  —  [21.]  The  disciples,  or  Peter  rather  speaking  for  them, 
recur  to  the  t^eig  t&tjg.  hv  ovp.  said  to  the  young  man,  and  inquire  what 
their  reward  shall  be  who  have  done  all  that  was  required  of  them  1 
He  does  not  ask  respecting  salvation,  but  some  preeminent  reward,  as 
is  manifest  by  the  answer.  The  "  all "  which  the  apostles  had  left  was 
not  in  all  cases  contemptible.  The  sons  of  Zebedee  had  hired  servants 
(Mark  i.  20),  and  Levi  (Matthew)  could  make  a  great  feast  in  his 
house.  But  whatever  it  was,  it  Avas  their  all.  [28-30.]  We  may 
admire  the  simple  truthfulness  of  this  answer  of  the  Lord.  He  does 
not  hide  from  them  their  reward  ;  but  tells  them  prophetically,  tliat  in 
the  new  Avorld  the  accomplishment  of  that  regeneration  which  he  came 
to  bring  in  (see  Acts  iii.  21  ;  Rev.  xxi.  5  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  29),  when  he 
should  sit  {Ka^layj  in  the  active)  on  his  throne  of  glory  {ett.  ^povov  r. 
6.  av.)  they  also  should  sit  on  twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel.  —  Alford. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE  HOUSEHOLDER — SHORT  HOURS  —  THE  SABBATH  —  THE  CALLED 

AND    CHOSEN A    MOTHER   AND    HER    SONS  —  BAPTISM  —  BLIND 

AVAT-SIDE  BEGGARS. 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  the  chapter  I  have  read  is 
strictly  and  properly  the  sequel,  or  part,  of  the  chapter  that 
immediately  precedes  it.  The  word  with  which  the  chap- 
ter begins,  "  For,"  being  illative,  indicates  that  something 
has  been  said  in  the  previous  conversation,  which  he  is 
about  to  illustrate,  prove,  or  enforce  in  the  sequel,  or  the 
following  chapter.  But  what  had  he  said  in  the  previous 
chapter  ?  He  said,  "  Many  that  are  first  shall  be  last,  and 
the  last  shall  be  first ; "  and  in  order  to  illustrate  this  senti- 
ment, and  show  that  the  prophecy  containing  it  will  be  ful- 
filled at  the  end  of  the  w^orld,  he  gives  the  parable  which  is 
contained  in  this  chapter,  full  of  suggestive  and  practical 
instruction. 

He  says,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  that  is,  the  outward 
and  visible  church,  the  company  of  all  who  profess  to  be 
followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  has  this  similitude.  It 
is  as  if  a  man,  that  is,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  great  house- 
holder of  heaven  and  of  earth,  "  went  out  early  in  the  morn- 
ing to  hire  laborers,"  apostles,  evangelists,  pastors,  teachers, 
and  ministers,  "  into  his  vineyard,"  that  is,  the  collection  of 
vines  that  are  his  planting,  or  of  branches  that  are  given  to 
him  as  the  members  of  his  body,  and  his  true  people  grow- 
ing in  his  light,  and  dews,  and  showers.   "  And  when  he  had 


MATTHEW   XX.  225 

agreed  with  the  laborers  for  a  penny  a  day,  he  sent  them  into 
his  vineyard."  A  penny  in  those  days  was,  probably,  about 
sevenpence  halfpenny.  It  was  a  common  soldier's  regular 
pay.  It  seems  to  us  a  very  small  sum  to  give  to  a  person  for 
hard  work  during  twelve  hours  in  a  vineyard.  But  you  are 
to  recollect  that,  while  we  fancy  money  to  be  the  most  per- 
manent, it  is  really  and  truly  the  most  mutable  of  all 
things.  In  those  days  7 Id.  was  probably  equal  to  75.  Qd.  in 
the  present  day.  AVhen  money  is  very  scarce,  as  political 
economists  know,  a  little  of  it  represents  a  great  deal  of 
labor,  or  food,  or  clothes,  or,  to  use  a  familiar  phrase,  goes  a 
great  way ;  but  as  money  gets  more  plentiful,  as  it  is  likely 
to  be  in  the  present  day,  owing  to  gold  fields  and  mines, 
whilst  it  does  not  imply  that  the  people  will  have  more  com- 
fort, it  is  probable  that  two  sovereigns  Avill  be  required  to 
purchase  what  one  will  purchase  now.  The  value  of  money 
has  always  depended  upon  the  discovery  of  mines ;  and, 
therefore,  it  is  not  to  be  estimated  by  its  absolute  amount, 
but  by  its  relative  representative  value  at  any  one  certain 
time.  So  the  denarius  purchased  more,  and  paid  for  more 
labor  then,  than  7s.  Gd.  or  half  a  guinea  probably  would  do 
in  modern  times. 

It  appears  that  this  great  householder  sent  them  out  to 
work  early,  and  visited  them  at  the  close  of  their  day's 
work.  What  was  the  length  of  a  day's  work  in  these 
times  ?  It  began  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  ;  nine  o'clock 
was  the  close  of  the  first  watch  or  hours ;  twelve  o'clock 
was  the  close  of  the  second ;  three  o'clock  of  the  third,  and 
six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  Avas  the  close  of  the  day's 
labor.  There  were  no  late  hours  then  ;  but  literally,  and  in 
its  loftiest  sense,  a  fair  day's  work  for  a  fair  day's  wages. 
This  is  as  it  should  be.  It  is  a  very  unhappy  thing,  that  as 
the  market  becomes  more  stocked,  and  wages  increase,  and 
commerce  is  more  extended  and  active,  the  result  of  it 
should  not  be,  as  it  ought  to  be  in  these  more  advanced 


226  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

times,  greater  comfort  to  the  laborer,  as  well  as  proper 
•wealth  tc  the  employer.  The  result  practicallj  is,  that  the 
laborer  is  overtasked  for  the  same  wages,  in  order  that  the 
employer  may  retire  with  a  splendid  fortune  in  less  time 
than  would  otherwise  have  been  required  to  gain  it.  This 
reminds  me  of  the  dispute  that  has  arisen  about  the  opening 
the  proposed  Crystal  Palace  on  the  Lord's  day.  It  seems 
to  me,  in  the  first  place,  that  no  Christian,  who  holds  the 
decalogue  to  be  obligatory,  or  the  Sabbath  to  be  a  day  on 
which  thoughts  and  sympathies  with  diviner  and  holier,  and 
in  nature,  remedial  things  ought  to  be  cherished,  can  give 
direct  or  indirect  sanction  to  the  demand  that  that  beautiful 
and  instructive  place  should  be  opened  on  that  day.  I  be- 
lieve it  will  be  most  beautiful  and  most  instructive.  Every- 
body should  go  to  see  it,  and  learn  and  study  its  contents. 
But  my  humble  judgment  as  to  the  whole  controversy  is 
this.  Whether  those  who  employ  labor  are  prepared  to  give 
up  a  little  of  the  time  that  they  exact  from  the  laborer 
during  the  week,  giving  him  the  same  wages,  in  order  that 
he  may  have  a  little  weekday  time  to  enjoy  and  study  the 
beauties  of  nature  and  art.  The  truth  is,  an  encroachment 
upon  the  Sabbath  is  proposed  to  be  made,  in  order  that  the 
employer  may  exact  the  greatest  amount  of  labor  on  the 
weekdays,  and  then  say  — "  The  Sunday  is  your  own ;  do 
what  you  like  w^ith  it."  Th^  plan  to  obviate  all  difficulty 
would  be,  that  every  employer  throughout  this  great  city 
should  make  it  a  rule  to  continue  the  same  salary,  or  wages, 
and  give  to  the  employed  some  Saturday  or  Monday,  after 
twelve  o'clock,  regularly,  say  once  every  month.  And  tlius, 
when  the  people  have  been  privileged,  without  a  loss  of 
their  fair  income,  to  study  God's  works  upon  the  Saturday, 
they  will  come  refreshed  to  study  God's  word  upon  the 
Sunday.  It  is,  therefore,  simply  a  question  of  avarice,  not 
among  the  directors  of  the  palace,  but  among  us,  and  no 
other,  that  is  now  agitated.  I  hope  this  view  of  it  will  not 
be  lost  siffht  of. 


^lATTHEAV     XX.  227 

Well,  at  the  close  of  the  clay's  work,  the  great  house- 
holder comes  to  pay  the  wages,  every  man  receiving  a 
penny.  But  when 'those  who  had  been  engaged  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning  saw  those  who  had  been  engaged  at 
live  o'clock  in  the  evening  receive  the  same  money  with 
themselves,  they  murmured.  It  seemed  to  them  unjust 
that  those  who  had  done  so  little  should  get  as  much  as 
those  who  had  done  so  much. 

This  was  meant  to  meet  the  question  of  the  apostles  in 
the  previous  chapter  —  "  Behold,  we  have  forsaken  all, 
and  followed  thee ;  what  shall  we  have  therefore  ?  "  This 
is  the  re|3ly  —  "  Because  you  were  first  in  time,  you  are  not 
necessarily  first  in  merit ;  and  whatever  excess  you  get  is 
purely  of  my  superabounding  grace ;  if  I  fulfil  to  you  the 
promise  I  made,  you  are  not  to  envy  a  brother  who  has 
been  equally  benefited  with  you."  This  teaches  us  that 
there  will  be  men  in  the  last  ages  of  the  world,  who  will  be 
admitted  on  a  loftier  platform  of  glory  and  happiness  than 
some  who  fell  asleep  in  Christ  at  the  beginning.  Whilst 
all  who  believe  in  Jesus  w^ill  be  saved,  I  believe  there  will 
be  degrees  of  happiness,  glory,  and  bliss,  commensurate  with 
the  progress  each  has  made  in  conformity  to  Christ,  and  in 
fitness  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  and  many  who  are  last, 
chronologically  viewed,  as  Plenry  Martin,  for  instance,  the 
missionary  Williams,  and  many  others,  who  lived  and  died 
for  Christ's  sake,  will  be  numbered  with  the  first ;  and 
many  who  believed  in  the  earliest  ages,  and  who  did  not 
sacrifice  nor  suffer,  because  not  called  upon  to  do  so,  for 
Christ's  sake,  will  be  last  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And 
therefore,  Jesus  says,  it  is  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will 
with  mine  own.  If  I  fulfil  my  promise  to  you,  you  have 
nothing  to  complain  of.  If  I  heap  additional  glory  upon 
others,  it  is  of  my  free  grace,  and  ought  not  to  provoke 
your  jealousy. 

Then  he  adds  the  inference,  "  For  many  be  called,  but 


228  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

few  chosen."  This  is  one  of  the  texts  that  are  frequently 
misapplied  and  misconstrued.  I  have  heard  it  preached  on 
as  meaning  that  many  are  summoned"  to  believe,  but  very 
few  do  believe.  But  the  text  has  no  such  meaning  at  all. 
The  passage  is  —  "For  many  be  the  k?.7]toi,  but  few  the 
EKXeKToc."  Now,  if  you  will  look  at  the  word  katitoI  through- 
out the  New  Testament,  you  will  find  it  is  invariably 
applied  to  believers.  (Rom.  i.  6,  and  viii.  30.)  The  apostle 
in  writing  to  the  Romans  says  —  "  To  them  that  are 
called,"  meaning  true  Christians.  How  then  are  we  to 
understand  this  text?  Its  meaning  is  gathered  from  its 
context :  "  Very  many  are  summoned,  and  very  many  obey 
and  come  into  the  vineyard,  and  are  true  Christians ;  but 
very  few  are  choice,  chief,  and  distinguished  Christians, 
who,  chronologically  last,  shall  be  from  their  sacrifices  and 
sufferings  greatest  and  first."  In  other  words,  many  are 
believers  of  the  common  level,  but  few  are  the  noblesse  of 
Christianity,  those  who  rise  above  the  ordinary  level,  and 
do  nobler  things,   and  suffer  greater  things,  for   Christ's 


Jesus  told  them  what  he  should  suffer,  and  be  called 
upon  to  endure,  when  he  should  go  up  to  Jerusalem. 
His  death,  therefore,  did  not  come  upon  him  unawares. 
He  knew  his  destiny  in  all  its  details,  and  he  made  ready 
to  meet  it. 

By  and  by  a  mother  came,  with  all  a  mother's,  affection 
for  her  sons,  but  with  all  a  fallen  creature's  ambition  for 
their  greatness,  and  presented  James  and  John,  and  desired 
of  Jesus  a  certain  thing.  He  asked  her,  what.  And  she 
said,  "  Grant  that  these  my  two  sons  may  sit,  the  one  on 
thy  right  hand,  and  the  other  on  the  left,  in  thy  kingdom." 
She  thought  still  that  Christ's  kingdom  was  then  to  begin 
on  earth  —  a  political,  material,  and  splendid  economy, 
with  precedence,  rank,  and  renown.  She  asked  that  her 
two  sons  might  occupy  the  two  chief  places,  and  so  be  the 


MATTHEW    XX.  229 

premier  peers.  These  two  sons  lived  to  see  a  thief  upon 
his  right  hand  and  a  thief  upon  his  left ;  and  they  learned 
perhaps,  then,  what  they  did  not  know  now,  "  Ye  know  not 
•wliat  ye  ask  :  "  and  therefore,  Jesus  said  to  them,  "  Are  ye 
able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  shall  drink  of?"  A  cup  is 
used  in  Scripture  to  denote  a  lot.  For  instance,  "  Thou 
.  makest  my  cup  to  run  over,"  that  is,  "  Thou  givest  me 
})lenty."  Again  it  is  said,  "A  cup  of  wrath,"  or,  "A  cup  of 
indignation  be  the  amount  or  portion."  "And  to  be  bap- 
tized with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with  ? "  Now 
here  is  the  word  "  baptism,"  about  which  so  much  dispute 
has  been  instituted^  employed  in  the  sense  of  suffering.  I 
referred  on  a  previous  day  to  a  very  magnificent  and  con- 
clusive letter  by  an  esteemed  friend.  Dr.  McNeile,  of  Liver- 
pool, whereby  he  shows  that  there  is  "  one  baptism  for  the 
remission  of  sins,"  but  not  baptism  with  water,  or  exterior 
baptism,  but  baptism  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  then  he 
shows  that  the  word  "  baptism "  is  used  in  four  different 
senses  —  in  the  sense  of  baptism  with  water ;  in  the  sense 
of  baptism  with  sufferings ;  and  in  the  sense  of  regenera- 
tion of  heart,  or  baptism  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God ;  and 
lastly,  baptism  with  water.  And  thus  he  proves  that  bap- 
tism, is  regeneration  ;  but  then  you  must  remember  it  is 
not  baptism  by  water  that  is  so,  but  baptism  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.  And  therefore,  when  any  person  says,  "  Baptism  is 
regeneration,"  say  to  him,  "  You  are  right ;  but  do  you  un- 
derstand the  same  baptism  that  I  do,  namely,  baptism  of 
the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  ?  If  you  do,  we  are 
at  one ;  but  if  you  mean  that  every  person  baptized  episco- 
pally,  presbyterially,  or  congregationally,  in  water  or  by 
water,  is  regenerated,  visit  the  Old  Bailey,  or  Bridewell, 
and  you  will  see  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  baptized,  or 
your  regenerates,  who  give  no  more  sign  of  being  regen- 
erated as  Scripture  defines  regeneration,  than  they  give  of 
being  Mahometans,  Hindoos,  or  Mormons. 
20 


230  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

I  must  explain  to  you  that  what  our  Lord  says  in  the 
23d  verse  is  not  well  rendered  in  our  translation.  It  is 
there  rendered,  "  But  to  sit  on  ray  right  hand,  and  on  my 
left,  is  not  mine  to  give,  but  it  shall  be  given  to  them  for 
whom  it  is  prepared  of  my  Father."  Now,  that  is  not  the 
assertion  of  our  Lord.  On  looking  at  your  Bibles  you  will 
see  that  the  words  "  it  shall  be  given  to  them  "  are  in  italics, 
denoting  that  there  are  no  such  Greek  words  in  the  original. 
Nevertheless,  our  translators  evidently  supposed  that  this 
was  the  exact  and  strict  meaning.  But  any  scholar  ac- 
quainted with  the  idiom  of  the  Greek  tongue  will  be  able 
to  tell  you  that  the  verse  conveys  just  the  opposite  meaning 
of  what  is  here  given.  It  should  be  rendered  thus  :  "  But 
to  sit  on  my  right  hand,  and  on  my  left,  is  not  mine  to  give, 
except  to  those  for  whom  it  is  prepared  of  my  Father."  In 
other  words,  Jesus  says,  "  It  is  not  mine  to  give  it  to  every- 
body who  asks  it,  but  to  every  one  for  whom  it  is  prepared 
of  my  Father."  It  is  his  prerogative  to  give  it,  only  it 
must  be  to  those  of  whom  he  says,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of 
my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world." 

Then  Jesus  showed  to  them  how  yrong  were  all  their  dis- 
putes about  precedency,  and  explained  to  them  that  true 
precedency  was  not  in  rank,  but  in  usefulness.  High  bene- 
ficence is  high  rank.  Lord  and  Lady  are  words  derived 
from  usefulness,  and  mean  ''  bread  givers." 

Thus  an  incidental  occurrence  becomes  the  pedestal  on 
which  is  exhibited  to  all  mankind  a  precious  and  instructive 
lesson.  That  lesson  is,  that  the  disciple  who  desires  to 
attain  the  loftiest  dignity  must  make  up  his  mind  to  be  char- 
acterized and  distinguished  by  the  greatest  usefulness.  The 
maxim  is,  that  whosoever  desires  to  be  greatest  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  —  to  be  most  renowned  and  celebrated 
among  the  wise  and  good  of  mankind,  —  must  bear  in  mind 
that  there  is  but  one  path  to  preeminence  and  real  celebrity, 
the  path  of  the  greatest  possible  usefulness. 


MATTHEAV   XX.  231 

He  who  will  have  man's  praise,  must  make  up  his  mind 
to  be  man's  servant.  This  is  not  the  way  of  human  nature. 
As  Luther  said,  human  nature  would  be  glorified  first  with- 
out being  crucified.  It  needs  to  be  learned  that  there  is  but 
one  way  to  the  crown,  namely,  the  cross ;  and  that  through 
tribulation,  self-sacrifice,  and  self-denial,  in  Christ  Jesus,  we 
must  attain  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Now  it  is  remarkable  that  society,  depraved  as  it  is, 
responds  most  nobly  to  this  text.  It  is  a  fact  evolved  in 
history,  and  illustrated  in  the  experience  of  us  all,  that  the 
man  who  has  had  great  power,  but  turned  that  power  to  a 
malignant  purpose,  has  either  ceased  to  be  remembered  at 
all,  or  his  name,  if  remembered,  is  now  shrouded  in  infamy 
and  discredit.  The  Domitians,  the  Neros,  the  Attilas,  the 
Hildebrands,  provoke  no  gratitude  by  the  recollection  of 
their  names  —  they  are  only  remembered  to  be  execrated  ; 
and  the  good  would  not  register  their  names  at  all,  if  it 
were  not  essential  to  the  continuity  of  the  history  of  man- 
kind. But,  on  the  contrary,  is  it  not  the  fact  that  the  dis- 
coverer of  the  cure  of  some  malignant  disease,  or  of  some 
alleviation  of  the  sufferings  and  agony  of  the  human  frame, 
is  mentioned  with  gratitude  and  esteem  wherever  his  name 
is  known  ?  The  discoverer  of  that  which  makes  the  mari- 
ner's path  more  certain,  and  the  mariner's  shipwreck  less 
disastrous,  is  recollected  with  grateful  thanks.  The  philoso- 
pher who  strikes  out  in  his  study  a  plan  for  quickening  and  ■ 
multiplying  the  social  intercourse  of  nations  and  mankind, 
is  still  revered.  The  soldier  who  turns  away  the  battle 
from  the  gate,  and  risks  his  own  life  that  its  sacrifice  may 
be  the  broad  shield  of  the  country  that  he  loves,  is  still 
spoken  of  with  great  veneration.  The  writer  of  a  book 
that  lives  where  so  few  live,  and  that  conveys  instruction, 
comfort,  delight,  and  edification  to  mankind,  is  still  remem- 
bered with  respect,  gratitude,  and  esteem.  Depraved  aa 
society  is  —  sadly  so,  terribly  so  —  it  has  yet  appreciation 


232  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

enough  to  see  where  true  dignity  is,  and  gratitude  enough 
to  erect  monuments  and  memorials  to  illustrious  worth, 
whose  greatest  and  chiefest  distinction  it  was,  that  it  was  un- 
precedented usefulness  to  mankind. 

Thus  we  find,  then,  that  the  greatest  benefactors  of  the 
world  have  always  been  its  greatest  servants.  They  are 
admu'ed  by  so  many,  just  because  they  helped  so  many.  The 
weight  and  splendor  of  their  fame  is  in  the  ratio  of  the 
amount  and  extent  of  their  usefulness  to  mankind.  It  is 
the  illustration  of  the  statement,  "  Whosoever  will  be  great 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister."  Let  him  catch  the 
spirit,  as  he  wears  the  mantle  and  treads  in  the  footsteps,  of 
the  great  Redeemer,  who  "  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

And  if  it  be  so  in  the  broad  field  of  the  world,  it  is  no 
less  so  in  the  narrower  but  consecrated  field  of  the  Church 
of  Christ.  The  greatest  in  the  history  of  the  Church  have 
invariably  been  the  most  useful.  They  reap,  after  they  are 
gone,  the  most  splendid  harvests  of  fair  renown,  who 
strewed  the  path  on  which  they  trod  with  the  seeds  of  be- 
neficence, virtue,  and  love.  The  servants  of  to-day  will  be 
the  masters  and  the  models  of  to-morrow.  They  who 
suffered  to  make  men  wiser  in  one  age,  will  be  found  and 
recognized  as  the  most  illustrious,  and  the  most  entitled  to 
renown,  when  other  ages  have  dawned  upon  us. 
"  What  a  beneficent  law  is  this  —  what  a  beautiful  law  ! 
that  the  man  who  wants  to  be  great,  must  reach  his  great- 
ness through  being  little ;  that  the  man  who  desires  to  be 
famed,  must  reach  the  high  pedestal  of  great  renown  through 
the  strait,  the  thorny,  the  arduous,  and  yet  the  blessed  path 
of  beneficence,  and  virtue,  and  love!  Does  Napoleon,  the 
scourge  of  nations,  stand  on  the  same  pedestal,  or  occupy  a 
parallel  niche,  with  Howard,  the  philanthropist  of  human- 
ity ?  We  know  he  does  not.  The  very  names,  when 
sounded  in  our  hearing,  provoke  conflicting  echoes  in  our 


MATTHEW   XX.  233 

hearts.  We  lament  the  transit  of  the  one  as  that  of  a  wild 
meteor  that  awed,  or  of  the  lightning-flash  that  smote,  man- 
kind. We  remember  the  other  as  a  bright  and  beneficent 
visitant,  who  made  earth's  weariness  less,  and  life's  load 
lighter:  and  he  has  reached  so  great  renown  because  he 
descended  so  deep,  and  sacrificed  so  much,  in  benefiting  and 
blessing  mankind. 

If,  then,  my  dear  friends,  we  leave  this  place  this  night 
with  this  great  lesson  impressed  upon  your  hearts,  it  will 
not  be  in  vain  that  you  have  come  here  —  that  the  way  to 
be  great  is  to  do  good,  that  the  way  to  be  strong  is  to  bear 
others'  burdens,  thsM;  the  w^ay  to  increase  is  to  scatter,  that 
the  prescription  for  being  rich  is,  largely  and  liberally  to 
give ;  and  all  experience  will  testify  in  the  future,  what  all 
history  demonstrates  in  the  past,  that  they  who  have  done 
much,  and  sufl:ered  much,  and  sacrificed  much  for  mankind, 
have  not  been  without  the  sweet  reward  of  satisfaction  and 
repose  within,  nor  altogether  without  those  laurels  which 
grow  green  and  beautiful  around  the  brows  of  him  who  has 
put  himself  to  trouble  that  others,  who  deserved  it  not,  might 
tiave  greater  happiness. 

Having  seen  this  truth  enunciated  as  a  great  proposition, 
we  have  it  embodied  and  illustrated  in  the  most  noble  Per- 
sonation of  it  —  "  Even  as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,"  He  came  not  to  be  min- 
istered unto.  He  left  a  throne  of  inconceivable  glory,  and  • 
came  down  to  a  grave,  in  the  world's  judgment,  of  unutter- 
able  shame.  He  left  the  anthems  and  the  worship  of  cher- 
ubim, for  the  execration,  hatred,  and  anathemas  of  the 
scribes,  the  Pharisees,  the  priests,  and  the  multitude  of  the 
Jews.  In  the  language  of  Scripture,  "  He  humbled  him- 
self; and  though  in  the  form  of  God,  and  thinking  it  no 
robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,  yet  he  took  upon  him  the 
form  of  a  servant."  None  went  so  low  as  the  blessed  Jesns  ; 
therefore  none  have  ascended  so  high.  The  depth  of  his 
20* 


234  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

descent  is  the  measure  of  his  grand  exaltation.  It  was 
because  he  endured  such  a  cross,  that  he  now  wears  so  bril- 
liant and  imperishable  a  crown.  It  was  because  he  was  the 
greatest  minister  of  all,  that  he  now  receives  in  heaven  the 
richest  hallelujahs  and  adorations  of  all.  He  came  not,  it 
is  'said,  to  be  ministered  unto:  and  yet  he  might  have 
demanded  it.  If  any  one  might  have  exacted  homage, 
surely  it  was  the  blessed  Jesus.  He  consented  to  degrada- 
tion —  he  consented  to  be  a  man  of  sorrows  ;  and,  having 
so  consented,  he  might  have  demanded  upon  earth  the  hom- 
age that  was  due  to  so  vast  a  humiliation.  But,  instead  of 
summoning  angels  from  the  skies  to  precede  his  beneficent 
march,  he  was  satisfied  with  John  the  Baptist.  Instead  of 
asking  the  cherubim  and  seraphim  of  the  universe  to  come 
and  attest  the  greatness  of  his  beneficence,  and  the  splendor 
of  his  miracles,  he  made  the  dead  that  he  quickened  speak 
for  him,  and  the  dumb  whose  lips  he  had  unsealed  praise 
him,  and  the  deaf  whose  ears  he  had  unstopped  listen  to 
him,  and  the  lame  whose  withered  limbs  he  had  restored 
leap  before  him  as  the  roe,  and  all  exclaim,  with  simultane- 
ous and  unmistakable  emotion,  "  Truly,  this  is  the  Son  of 
God !  "  One  would  have  thought  that  when  he  came  to 
creation,  it  would  have  shone  perpetually  with  the  light  of 
Tabor,  and  that  some  mighty  and  majestic  testimony  would 
have  been  given  to  him  at  every  stage,  —  that  an  aureole  of 
brightness  would  have  been  around  him,  —  that  some  she- 
chinah,  some  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night, 
would  have  constantly  preceded  him ;  or  that,  having  made 
so  great  a  sacrifice,  flower,  and  fruit,  and  tree,  and  all  bright 
things  and  beautiful  things,  would  have  formed  themselves 
into  a  couch  for  so  great  and  illustrious  a  visitant.  But, 
instead  of  this,  whilst  the  foxes  of  the  earth  had  holes,  and 
the  birds  of  the  air  had  nests.  He  who  had  thus  humbled 
himself  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head. 

Again,  though  He  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  yet 


MATTHEW    XX.  235 

our  sense  of  his  visit  as  creatures  capable  of  bein^^  redeemed 
by  him  might  have  suggested  a  better  reception.  But  Pihite, 
instead  of  using  his  power  to  protect  him,  gave  him  up  to 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees.  The  priests  who  sat  in  Moses' 
chair,  instead  of  recognizing  Him  of  whom  Moses  wrote, 
shouted,  "  Not  this  man,  but  Barabbas."  And  the  Jews, 
his  own,  to  whom  he  came  that  he  might  emancipate  them 
from  a  real  yoke  and  invest  them  with  a  true  freedom, 
rejected,  despised,  and  crucified  him.  He  received  no  min- 
istration—  He  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  as  his  errand, 
but  the  very  opposite  :  in  the  language  of  himself,  he  came 
"  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many," 

Now,  if  you  will  look  at  the  history  of  our  blessed  Lord, 
you  will  see  that  his  whole  life  was  a  ministry,  and  his  death 
itself  only  a  sublimer,  grander,  and,  if  possible,  a  more  pre- 
cious one.  If  you  look  at  his  life,  here  he  feeds  the  hungry 
by  a  special  miracle  of  beneficence  and  power ;  there  he 
opens  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  restores  the  withered  limb,  un- 
stops the  ears  of  the  deaf,  unties  the  tongue  of  the  dumb, 
and  gives  to  all  the  hope  of  the  restoration  of  humanity  to 
all  its  lost  prerogatives,  glory,  and  perfection.  There,  again, 
he  raises  a  widow's  only  dead  son,  and  here  he  quickens  the 
sister's  only  dead  brother.  His  whole  life,  a  ministry  of 
love  —  every  day,  a  service  and  a  sacrifice  for  man.  On 
another  occasion,  he  stills  the  winds,  and  lays  the  waves, 
and  gives  the  earnest  to  mankind  of  that  day  when  all  winds 
shall  be  hushed,  and  all  waves  shall  be  laid,  and  the  earth 
shall  shine  again  in  the  splendor  of  its  first  dawn.  On 
another  occasion,  in  the  hour  of  his  trial,  when  one  would 
have  thought  that  his  only  cares  would  be  about  himself,  he 
pleads  only  for  his  disciples  :  "  Let  these  go  away."  And 
on  the  eve  of  his  own  crucifixion,  when  the  agony  of  to- 
morrow must  have  lain  heavy  and  painful  on  his  heart,  he 
so  truly  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  that  he  asks  no  con- 
solations from  the  height  or  from  the  depth  ;  and  so  truly  to 


236  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

minister,  that  he  institutes  that  beautiful  celebrity,  the  Com- 
munion Table,  for  the  consolation  of  all  them  that  believe. 
And  when  he  hung  upon  the  cross,  in  his  last  agony,  so  little 
did  he  seek  to  be  ministered  unto,  that,  with  the  exception 
of  the  utterance,  "I  thirst,"  he  sought  no  relief  for  himself; 
and  so  truly  did  he  come  to  minister,  that,  beholding  his 
weeping  mother,  he  bids  John  take  charge  of  her  —  not  as 
a  goddess  for  adoration,  but  as  a  suffering  widow  and  a 
childless  mother,  for  comfort  and  for  protection.  And  in  the 
agony  of  his  last  crucifixion,  when  one  would  have  thought 
that  that  grief  that  was  more  than  any  man's,  and  that  sor- 
row that  was  bitterer  than  any  one's,  would  have  so  over- 
whelmed him,  that  he  could  have  no  thoughts  about  any  one 
around,  he  spoke  to  the  thief  upon  the  cross,  and  proved  the 
majesty  of  a  present  God  amid  all  the  suffering  of  poor 
man,  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."  And 
when  he  rose  from  the  dead,  so  little  did  he  come  to  be  min- 
istered unto,  and  so  truly  to  minister,  that  his  first  anxiety 
seems  to  have  been,  "  Go  and  tell  the  disciples,"  —  and 
because  there  was  one  among  them  that  needed  the  first  com- 
fort, because  he  had  been  guilty  of  the  greatest  offence,  he 
adds,  "  and  Peter,  —  that  I  am  risen  from  the  dead."  And 
just  before  he  ascended  into  heaven,  so  little  did  he  seek 
ministration  from  any,  so  truly  was  his  life  a  ministry  to  all, 
that  he  institutes  baptism,  gives  the  ministerial  commission, 
"  Go  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  and  ap- 
pends the  sustaining  and  precious  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  We  have 
thus,  then,  his  life,  his  death,  his  resurrection,  his  presence 
upon  earth,  all  one  grand  ministry  of  service  to  mankind. 
If,  therefore,  you  wish  the  lesson  I  have  taught  to  be  conse- 
crated by  the  noblest  precedent,  here  it  is.  Let  us  follow 
his  example ;  for  he  has  left  us  that  example  that  we  should 
follow  his  steps. 

But  to  crown  his  ministry  with  its  most  precious  and  tri- 


MATTHEW   XX.  237 

umpliant  feature,  he  gave  his  life  "  a  ransom  for  many."  He 
lived,  a  ministry  to  us ;  he  died,  a  ministry  for  us ;  and 
whether  he  lived,  or  died,  he  "  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  i^ansom  for 
many."  Now,  having  noticed  his  life,  what  are  we  to  un- 
derstand by  the  expression,  he  died  "  a  ransom  for  many  ?  " 
Surely,  not  a  mere  example.  He  was  a  meek  and  a  patient 
sufferer ;  but  it  was  not  necessary  that  a  God  should  become 
incarnate,  that  man  might  have  a  precedent  how  purely  he 
should  live,  and  how  constantly  and  meekly  he  should  die. 
Nor  did  he  give  his  life  as  a  mere  martyr.  Many  a  martyr 
has  suffered  great  agony,  and  died  most  triumphaptly ;  and 
if  we  wish  to  know  how  martyrs  can  die  for  Christ's  sake, 
every  Martyrology  records  illustrious  and  noble  instances. 
Jesus  did  live  an  example,  Jesus  did  die  a  martyr ;  but  he 
did  more ;  he  lived  a  priest,  and  he  died  also  an  atonement, 
a  sacrifice,  or  a  ransom  for  the  sins  of  mankind. 

Now,  is  it  possible  to  attach  any  other  meaning  to  such 
language  as  this,  "  He  bare  our  sins  ? "  I  am  surprised 
how  anybody  can  read  the  Bible,  and  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  Christ's  death  was  nothing  more  than  the  death  of 
a  transcendently  good  man,  or,  as  the  Pantheist  would  say, 
of  an  unprecedentedly  great  man,  showing  constancy  and 
pureness  in  life,  and  constancy  and  faithfulness  in  death. 
If  this  were  all,  then  apostles  preached  and  evangelists 
wrote  in  order  to  deceive  mankind.  If  they  understood 
their  own  language,  and  wished  to  convey  to  a  Jew  by  the 
most  unmistakable  and  expressive  phrases  that  Jesus  died 
a  Sacrifice,  they  could  not  have  selected  more  definite,  une- 
quivocal, and  unmistakable  expressions.  What  am  I  to 
understand  by  this,  "  He  bare  our  sins  ?  "  Just  think  what 
the  Jew  did.  He  laid  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the 
scapegoat,  and  the  scapegoat  went  away  bearing  his  sins. 
Would  not  every  Jew  understand  by  the  expression,  "  He 
bare  our  sins,"  the  sacrificial  relationship  and  character  of 


238  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Christ's  death  ?  And  again,  when  John  said,  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world," 
that  does  not  carry  to  us  the  vivid  associations  it  conveyed 
to  a  Jew.  When  the  Jew  heard  that,  he  instantly  thought 
of  the  morning  and  the  evening  sacrifice,  and  he  recollected 
the  Passover  lamb,  whose  blood,  you  remember  historically 
shed,  sheltered  from  the  destroying  angel,  and  gave  protec- 
tion to  the  consecrated  and  happy  home.  And  besides,  I 
believe  that  when  John  pointed  to  Jesus,  it  was  the  hour  of 
the  day  when  the  Levites  were  leading  the  lamb  for  the 
morning  sacrifice ;  and  thus,  John,  seeing  the  typical  lamb 
led  to  the  altar,  and  seeing  the  true  Lamb  standing  beside 
him,  said  to  the  Jews,  "  Turn  your  backs  upon  the  type :  it 
is  the  shell,  the  kernel  is  not  there :  it  is  the  shadow,  the 
substance  has  come.  Look  not  at  that  lamb  any  more  ;  but 
behold  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  alone 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  Again,  what  am  I  to 
understand  by  such  phraseology  as  this  ?  "  The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  And  again  :  "  Pie  is 
the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  And  again,  as  the  apostle 
says  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  "  If  the  blood  of  bulls 
and  of  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  an  heifer  sprinkling  the  un- 
clean," that  is,  sacrificial  animal  suffering  or  death,  "  sancti- 
fieth  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh,"  so  that  I  can  have 
admission  into  the  outer  temple  of  David,  "how  much  more 
shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit 
off'ered  himself  without  spot  to  God,  purge,"  not  the  outer 
man,  which  the  blood  of  animals  did,  but  "  your  conscience," 
the  inner  man,  which  the  true  Sacrifice  does,  "  from  dead 
works  to  serve  the  living  God  ?  "  that  is,  to  be  a  Levite  in 
the  house  not  made  with  hands,  instead  of  being  conse- 
crated merely  to  be  a  Levite  in  that  temple,  which  was 
soon  to  be  pulled  down,  and  not  one  stone  to  be  left  upon 
another. 

But  if  I  look  at  other  aspects  of  the  death  of  Christ,  I 


MATTHEW  XX.  239 

must  conclude  that  it  was  different  to  any  other  in  the  New 
Testament.  First,  the  death  of  Christ  is  the  burden  of  all 
ancient  prophecy.  You  do  not  read  in  Isaiah  of  the  death 
of  John  the  Baptist ;  there  is  no  prediction  of  the  martyr- 
dom of  Paul ;  but  from  the  first  promise  that  sounded  amid 
the  wrecks  of  Paradise,  "  The  woman's  seed  shall  bruise 
the  serpent's  head,"  to  the  last  promise  in  Isaiah,  "  He  hath 
borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows,"  we  have  one 
death  singled  out  and  made  prominent,  and  preached,  and 
pressed  upon  man.  Can  that  death  belong  to  the  category 
of  common  deaths  ?  Was  this  the  death  of  a  great  martyr 
or  a  good  apostle  only  ?  Are  we  not  rational,  do  we  not 
interpret  honestly,  when  Ave  infer  that  it  was  not  the  death 
of  an  illustrious  martyr,  but  of  the  only  Sacrifice  for  the 
sins  of  all  that  believe  ? 

Again,  this  death,  here  called  "a  ransom  for  many," 
excites  the  greatest  possible  interest  in  heaven.  It  is  said 
that  the  angels  desire  to  look  into  it ;  and  John  opens  the 
door  that  leads  to  choirs  of  the  blessed,  and  enables  you  to 
hear  the  anthem  peal  that  ever  swells  and  never  ceases, 
and  in  that  anthem  you  ever  hear,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain."  And  again  John  says,  "  I  beheld  a  Lamb 
just  as  if  he  had  been  slain."  Can  that,  then,  be  the  death 
of  a  mere  good  man,  or  a  great  example,  that  stirs  the 
hearts  of  ancient  prophets ;  that  sweeps,  like  the  breath  of 
heaven,  over  the  hearts  of  the  redeemed :  that  constitutes 
the  burden  of  prophecy  in  the  past,  and  that  will  be  the 
key-note  of  the  songs  and  adoration  of  the  blessed,  when 
time  shall  be  no  more  ? 

And  again,  this  death  of  Christ  is  the  substance  of  all 
apostolical  preaching.  Why  is  it  that  we  are  called  "  Chris- 
tians," and  not  "  Paulites,"  or  "  Peterites  ?  "  The  answer 
is  plain.  Did  Paul  or  Peter  die  for  you  ?  What  does  Paul 
say  ?  ''  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."     And  again,  "  I  preach  Christ  cru- 


240  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

cified."  This  inexpressible  magnificence  attached  to  the 
death  of  Christ  takes  it  out  of  the  category  of  the  greatest 
and  the  noblest ;  and  it  was  something  so  unique,  and  with- 
out parallel,  because  it  was  nothing  else  than  what  we 
believe,  a  ransom  and  atonement  for  the  sins  of  them  that 
believe. 

Also  you  will  notice  in  this  death  a  feature  that  was  not 
in  any  other,  namely,  it  was  perfectly  voluntary.  Jesus 
himself  said  (John  x.  17),  "I  lay  down  my  life,  that  I  might 
take  it  again.  No  man  taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down 
of  myself.  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power 
to  take  it  again."  That  single  statement,  tcr  my  mind,  would 
be  proof  that  Christ  was  God ;  but  I  take  it  now  as  proof 
of  his  Atonement.  If  he  had  been  constrained  to  suffer,  it 
w^ould  not  have  been  an  Atonement ;  but  that  language  indi- 
cates a  death  very  peculiar  indeed.  There  is  no  man  in 
this  assembly,  who  dare  say,  "  I  can  lay  down  my  life."  It 
is  not  yours,  it  is  God's ;  and  to  lay  it  down  is  suicide.  The 
fact,  therefore,  that  Jesus  could  and  did  say  it,  is  evidence 
that  he  was  the  Lord  of  life,  and  that  he  laid  down  his  life 
a  willing,  and  therefore  an  acceptable  Sacrifice  for  the  sins 
of  mankind. 

And  then,  if  you  will  read  the  concomitant  circumstances 
in  the  death  of  Jesus,  you  Avill  find  something  very  peculiar. 
The  earth  split,  the  rocks  rent,  the  dead  rose,  angels  came 
down  and  returned,  and  came  and  returned  again.  All 
nature  seemed  struck  ;  all  creation  shuddered  to  its  core. 
This  never  happened  at  any  other  death.  Why  was  this  ? 
Because  all  these  things  were  meant  to  mark  out  distinctly 
that  the  death  of  Jesus  was  not  that  of  a  patient  martyr,  but 
of  an  atoning  victim  for  the  sin  of  mankind. 

Now,  in  order  to  give  you  a  very  clear  and  conclusive 
proof  that  it  was  an  atonement  and  a  sacrifice,  I  notice  that 
the  words  "  to  die  for "  —  "a  ransom  for,"  would  naturally 
suggest  propitiation.     For  instance,  David  says  of  Absalom, 


MATTHEW    XX.  241 

«  Would  I  had  died  for  thee."  Does  that  mean,  "  Would  I 
had  died  an  example  for  thee  ?  "  No  ;  but,  "  Would  that  I 
had  suffered  death,  that  you  might  only  have  been  kept  in 
life ; "  that  is,  "  Would  I  could  have  been  accepted  a  substi- 
tute for  you."  Again,  it  is  said,  "  The  father  shall  not  die 
for  the  child  ;  "  that  is,  suffer  death,  that  the  child  may  con- 
tinue in  life.  And  again,  Caiaphas  the  high-priest  said,  that 
it  was  expedient  that  one  should  die  for  the  people  ;  that  is, 
in  the  room  and  stead  of  the  people.  And  therefore,  these 
expressions,  "  an  atonement  for,"  —  "a  ransom  for,"  all  de- 
note the  substitution  of  One,  that  is,  Christ,  for  another ; 
that  is,  us  that  believe.  And  then,  the  expression,  "  ran- 
som," is  also  clearly  descriptive  of  the  same  great  idea.  It 
is  used  in  the  Bible  in  the  sense  of  redeeming  land  from 
mortgage,  that  is,  the  freedom  of  the  land  from  the  incum- 
brance to  which  it  is  subject.  Again,  it  is  used  in  the  sense 
of  releasing  a  slave  from  bondage,  or  paying  so  much 
money  to  let  the  slave  go  free.  Again,  in  the  sense  of  a 
ransom  from  a  vow,  that  is,  deliverance  from  the  responsi- 
bility of  a  vow  that  has  been  made.  In  all  these  cases  the 
word  "  ransom  "  means  something  paid  by  one,  that  some- 
thing forfeited  by  another  may  be  restored  to  him.  Now, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  said  here,  died  a  "  ransom  "  for 
us  ;  that  is,  he  took  our  sins,  and  bore  the  consequence  ;  and 
we  receive  from  him  his  righteousness,  and  inherit  the  con- 
sequence. He  took  upon  him  our  fleece  as  tainted,  fallen, 
stray  sheep,  and  was  offered  an  atonement  in  it ;  and  we 
receive  from  him  the  spotless  fleece  of  his  righteousness, 
and,  arrayed  in  raiment  white  and  clean,  we  are  presented 
spotless  and  without  fault  before  God. 

What  a  blessed  thought,  that  we  are  justified,  not  by  any 
thing  done  by  us,  but  by  something  done  for  us  ;  that  we 
have  not  to  work  our  way  to  heaven,  but  to  accept  heaven 
already  paid  for ;  that  we  are  ransomed,  if  we  are  believers ! 
The  devil,  sin,  the  world,  have  no  right  to  us.  We  are  ran- 
21 


242  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

soraed ;  the  price  has  been  paid  for  us ;  the  mark  of  God  is 
on  our  brows ;  the  seal  of  his  adoption  is  on  our  hearVs  ;  the 
mortgage  is  gone  ;  the  slave  is  freed.  Jesus  gave  his  life  a 
ransom  for  all  that  believe. 

Thus  then  He  illustrates  by  a  precious  truth  the  obliga- 
tion he  has  stated  in  connection  with  another.  Thus  he 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  unto  us  in  his 
life,  and  to  die  a  ransom  for  all  that  believe.  How  great  are 
our  obligations  to  the  Son  of  God  !  You  are  not  your  own  ; 
you  are  bought  with  a  price.  How  great,  I  say,  are  our  obli- 
gations to  him,  who  redeemed  us,  not  with  gold,  or  silver,  or 
any  such  corruptible  thing,  but  Avith  the  precious  blood  of  a 
Lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot. 

"What  are  you  doing  for  Him  ?  If  he  has  thus  ministered 
to  us  in  life  and  in  death,  the  least  that  becomes  us  is  to 
minister  to  him.  But  our  ministry  is  first  ourselves.  "  I 
beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God, 
that  ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice."  And  next, 
wherever  you  can  minister  to  them  that  are  his,  do  not  do  it 
35  a  duty,  still  less  as  a  penance,  but  do  it  as  a  pleasure  in 
responsive  gratitude  to  Him  who  ministered  his  life  and  his 
death  to  you,  that  you  might  live  and  be  happy  for  ever. 

Brethren,  this  text  is  a  meet  one  wherewith  to  close  the 
last  Sabbath  of  a  year  that  now  descends  into  its  grave,  and 
will  disappear  for  ever.  No  power  can  recall  the  fifty-two 
Sabbaths  that  are  gone.  No  words  spoken  on  them  can  be 
unspoken  ;  no  deed  done  on  them  can  be  undone  ;  no  thought 
thought  during  their  lapse  can  be  unthought.  But  if  the 
past  be  gone,  the  present  is  still  ours.  Oh  !  take  the  fifty- 
two  Sabbaths  past,  and  write  at  their  close  this  only  truth 
that  we  dare  write,  and,  blessed  be  God,  that  we  may  write, 
"  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  from  all  sin  ; " 
and  start  from  the  old  year's  grave  on  the  new  year's  road 
with  hearts  kindled  with  divine  love,  and  dedicated  afresh 
unto  Him  who  has  redeemed  you,  prepared  to  sacrifice,  and 


MATTHEW   XX.  2.43 

suffer,  and,  if  needs  be,  die  for  his  blessed  name's  sake ! 
What  a  noble  prospect  is  before  us  !  The  days  of  1853  are 
still  empty ;  we  may  charge  them  with  elements  of  good  or 
evil.  It  may  be  true  that  1852  has  been  to  some  one  the 
year  extra  added  to  him  by  reason  of  the  intercession  which 
cried,  "  Lord,  spare  him  another  year."  It  may  depart ;  but 
it  has  not  departed  yet :  there  are  six  days  of  it  yet  left. 
During  those  six  days  let  there  be  a  new  and  noble  purpose., 
that  come  life,  come  death,  you  will  bear  the  name  and  do 
honor  to  the  cause  of  your  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour  Christ 
Jesus.  And  if  we  be  spared  through  1853,  in  all  its  ups 
and  downs,  its  ills  and  crosses,  its  sunshine  and  shadow,  its 
torrents,  eddies,  vicissitudes,  and  trials,  what  thankfulness  for 
the  past !  what  a  mercy  to  be  here  in  health  and  strength, 
with  the  cross  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  every  one  of  us  wel- 
come to  look  and  live  for  ever  !  With  what  praises  should 
we  close  the  year !  With  what  firm,  high,  and  heroic 
resolves  should  we  begin  the  year  that  is  to  come !  We 
have  had  mercies  to  remember  and  celebrate  as  individuals, 
as  a  congregation,  as  a  nation.  Let  us  walk  worthy  of 
them ;  let  us  remember  that  they  will  not  be  long  pos- 
sessors, or  quiet  possessors,  of  great  mercies,  who  are  not 
sanctified  possessors  of  them ;  and  let  us  recollect  that  the 
sharpest  judgments  that  God  sends  upon  a  people  are  mis- 
used and  abused  mercies  and  privileges.  It  was  the  city 
that  was  lifted  highest  to  heaven  in  privilege  that  sank 
deepest  to  hell  in  condemnation. 

Let  us  then,  my  dear  friends,  not  by  ostentation,  not  by 
display,  not  by  loud  words  or  eloquent  pretensions,  but  by 
quiet  devotedness  to  whatsoever  things  are  good  and  just, 
by  liberality  in  every  cause  that  has  a  fair  and  right  claim, 
consecrate  ourselves  a  ministry  to  Him  who  in  life  minis- 
tered to  us,  and  in  death  died  for  us,  and  ever  liveth  to 
make  intercession  for  us. 

JVe  read  that  the  victims  of  one  of  the  greatest  earthly 


244  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

calamities,  the  loss  of  sight,  earnestly  desired  to  see  the 
light  of  the  sun.  The  blind  men  prayed :  "  Have  mercy  on 
us,  O  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David  !  "  And  he  who  was  so  often 
prayed  to,  never  yet  refused  a  prayer  that  was  presented 
for  the  right  thing  or  in  the  right  way ;  and  therefore,  he 
had  "  compassion  on  them,  and  touched  their  eyes ;  and 
immediately  their  eyes  received  sight,  and  they  followed 
him."  What  manner  of  man  was  this,  who  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  blind,  unstopped  the  ears  of  the  deaf!  What  great 
manifestation  was  this,  whom  the  winds  of  passion,  and  the 
waves  of  prejudice,  all  obeyed,  and  they  that  were  dead 
heard  his  voice,  and  came  forth,  and  praised  him,  as  the 
Lord  of  life  and  all  things  ! 

Blessed  Lord,  open  thou  our  eyes,  that  we  may  see  won- 
drous things  out  of  thy  law !  Take  away  from  our  minds 
all  prejudice,  and  from  our  hearts  all  passion,  and  dwell 
thou  in  these  souls  of  ours,  blessed  Redeemer,  we  beseech 
thee. 


Note.  —  The  multitude  appear  to  have  silenced  them,  lest  they 
should  be  wearisome  and  annoying  to  our  Lord ;  not  because  they 
called  him  the  Son  of  David,  for  the  multitudes  could  have  no  reason 
for  repressing  this  cry,  seeing  that  they  themselves  (being  probably  for 
the  most  part  the  same  persons  who  entered  Jerusalem  with  Jesus) 
raised  it  very  soon  after.  (See  ch.  xxi.  9.)  I  have  before  noticed  (on 
ix.  27)  the  singular  occurrence  of  these  words  "  Son  of  Da\id,"  in 
the  three  narratives  of  healing  the  blind  in  this  Gospel.  — Alfoid. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

PROPHECY     FULFILLED      MINUTELY POPULAR     WELCOME HOLT 

PLACES THE  HOSANNA  OF  CHILDREN THE  FIG-TREE  CURSE 

AUTHORITY THE     VINEYARD  THE     HUSBANDMAN's    INTEREST 

IN    IT. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  chapter  we  find  the  com- 
mission given  by  our  blessed  Lord  to  his  own  disciples  to  go 
and  execute  a  message,  the  completion  of  which  would  be 
the  fulfilment  of  an  ancient  prophecy.  He  did  it  because 
the  circumstance  arose  at  the  time,  and  owing  to  the  position 
in  which  he  was  at  that  moment  placed,  and  not  by  a  desire 
rigidly  to  fulfil  a  prophecy  simply  because  it  was  prophecy. 
What  he  did,  it  was  perfectly  natural  to  do  in  the  circum- 
stances. He  did  it,  not  avowedly  to  fulfil  a  prophecy,  or  to 
make  that  true  which  otherwise  had  been  false,  but  because 
the  thing  itself  was  dutiful  and  seasonable  ;  and  it  came  to 
pass,  that  in  so  doing,  he  fulfilled  a  prophecy  that  awaited 
this  very  crisis  in  order  to  be  seen  to  be  the  inspiration  and 
the  truth  of  God.  And  hence,  those  passages  in  Scripture 
that  frequently  occur  and  substantially  say,  "  All  this  was 
done,  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken,"  do  not 
teach  that  the  thing  was  done  in  order  to  be  adapted  to  the 
prophecy,  but  that  the  thing  was  done,  and  thereby  what 
could  not  fail,  came  to  be  accomplished,  namely,  a  prophecy 
of  God. 

You  observe,  the  prophecy  most  minutely  described  the 
future  event,  — "  Thy  King  cometh  unto  thee,  meek,  and 
21* 


246  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

sitting  upon  an  ass,  and  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass."  Now, 
the  mere  loose  interpreter  of  ancient  prophecy,  on  reading 
such  a  prediction  as  this,  would  say,  No  doubt  it  means 
simply  that  he  will  come  in  very  humble  and  lowly  circum- 
stances ;  but  we  cannot  expect  that  he  will  come  literally 
sitting  upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass.  But 
it  indicates  more  than  this.  You  observe,  the  prophecy 
describes  minutely  and  in  detail  a  future  event,  and  that 
future  event  as  minutely  described  exactly  occurs.  What 
is  our  inference?  That  if  this  minute  prophecy  has  been 
fulfilled,  we  may  expect  the  minute  predictions  that  are  not 
yet  fulfilled  will  be  so  fulfilled  also ;  and  therefore  that 
prophecy  is  not  to  be  interpreted  in  a  loose  and  latitudina- 
rian  style,  but  under  the  deep  and  sure  recollection,  that 
heaven  and  earth  may  pass  away,  but  not  one  jot  nor  tittle 
shall  pass  from  ancient  prophecy,  until  all  has  been  com- 
pletely fulfilled. 

We  read  that  when  He  thus  came,  the  multitude,  still 
struck  with  the  splendor  of  his  miracles,  and  no  doubt  re- 
freshed by  his  beautiful  and  consolatory  teaching,  enthusi- 
astically welcomed  him.  Some  cast  their  garments  before 
him,  a  mode  in  which  kings  and  royal  personages  were 
received,  and  denoting  the  dignity  attached  to  them,  and 
the  reverence  in  which  they  were  held ;  others  cut  down 
branches  from  the  trees,  as  the  nearest  and  readiest  way  of 
expressing  their  homage ;  and  the  whole  crowd  shouted, 
"  Hosanna,"  that  is,  '  save  us,'  "  to  the  Son  of  David : 
Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  Ho- 
sanna in  the  highest."  The  multitude,  you  observe,  quoting 
a  Psalm  that  especially  delineates  the  future  triumphs  and 
glory  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  He  himself,  at  the  close  of  the 
chapter,  quoting  that  Psalm  as  having  its  fulfilment  in  his 
reign  and  advent.  The  whole  city  of  Jerusalem  was  stirred 
by  this  extraordinary  fact,  that  the  crowd,  apparently  under 
an  inspiration  from  on   high,  burst  forth   into   song,  and 


MATTHEW   XXI.  247 

applied  the  ancient  Psalms  to  Him  whom  the  Pharisees 
believed  to  be  a  mere  pretender,  and  not  the  Messiah. 

Jesus  then  came  into  the  temple,  or  rather,  into  one  of 
the  outer  courts  of  the  temple,  in  which  the  Israelites 
might  be,  and  perhaps  the  Gentiles  also;  and  there  he 
"  overthrew  the  tables  of  the  money-changers,  and  the  seats 
of  them  that  sold  doves."  But  why  was  this  employment 
sinful  ?  It  was  a  necessary  trade  for  the  sacrifices  ;  they 
had  to  pay  in  Jewish  money  the  shekel ;  but  the  Jews, 
being  a  province  of  the  Roman  empire,  had  only  the  dena- 
rius and  other  Roman  coins  among  them ;  and  these  money- 
changers gave  shekels  for  the  talent  or  denarius,  and  other 
Roman  money  that  was  current  under  the  Ctesars,  just  as 
we  should  change  in  France  English  money  into  French ; 
and  they  received  a  percentage  for  changing  this  money. 
Surely  in  that  work  there  was  no  sin ;  but  the  sin  lay  in 
their  excessive  avarice  and  its  results,  their  competition  and 
desire  to  make  so  much  percentage  leading  them  to  carry  on 
their  trade  in  the  very  house  of  God,  and  thus  to  desecrate 
that  place  dedicated  to  other  purposes,  by  doing  in  it  a 
work  which  could  be  as  well,  though  not  so  successfully, 
done  outside  the  temple,  and  in  another  place  altogether. 
So  with  the  selling  of  the  doves,  it  was  right  and  necessary, 
but  it  might  have  been  done  elsewhere.  What  he  con- 
demned, and  what  by  this  act  he  publicly  reprobated,  was 
turning  God's  house  into  a  place  of  merchandise,  misusing 
divine  ordinances.  But  very  often  do  not  our  hearts  become 
thus  desecrated  within  these  walls  ?  When  thoughts  of  the 
counting-house,  the  market,  and  the  exchange  ;  thoughts  of 
what  we  have  to  do  next  week,  the  bills  to  be  paid,  and  the 
debts  due,  rush  through  these  hearts  ;  then,  my  dear  friends, 
we  are  making  God's  house,  which  should  be,  and  in  many 
cases  is,  his  temple,  holier  in  itself  than  the  Jewish  temple, 
a  den  of  thieves,  a  place  of  merchandise.  And  \vhen  we 
bring  into  the  gabbath  the  works  and  employments  that  are 


248  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

proper  on  the  weekday,  we  do  the  same.  It  is  most  im- 
portant that  we  should  have  one  day,  on  which  we  can 
retreat  from  the  world,  and  only  hear,  speak,  and  think 
about  everlasting  things ;  that  we  should  have  one  day  of 
the  seven  that  we  can  consecrate  to  thoughts  about  the  soul, 
death,  judgment,  eternity,  a  Saviour.  By  all  means  study 
the  contents  of  the  Crystal  Palace  on  the  Saturday  —  that 
is  creation  work,  and  is  proper  on  creation's  closing  day ; 
but  reserve  the  Sabbath  for  redemption  work,  the  cure  and 
restoration  of  the  precious  soul. 

When  the  chief  priests  saw  this,  they  wondered,  and  were 
especially  provoked  at  the  children  shouting,  "  Ilosanna  to 
the  Son  of  David ! "  and  they  said,  "  Hearest  thou  what 
these  say  ?  "  And  he  told  them  that  they  were  saying  quite 
right,  and  that  their  Hosanna  was  musical  to  his  ears,  and 
that  it  was  only  the  fulfilment  of  a  Psalm  that  the  scribes 
did  not  understand,  the  8th  Psalm,  "  Out  of  the  mouths  of 
babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  perfected  strength,"  or 
"  praise,"  —  a  Psalm  applied  by  the  apostle  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  to  Christ,  —  a  Psalm  that  is  properly  a  Mil- 
lennial Psalm,  relating  to  that  period  when  the  Son  of  man 
shall  have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  God  grant  our  inner  and  outer  sanc- 
tuaries may  always  be  holy  ! 

We  read  here,  that  our  Lord  '*  went  out  of  the  city  to 
Bethany  ;  and  he  lodged  there.  Now  in  the  morning  as  he 
returned  into  the  city,  he  hungered.  And  when  he  saw  a 
fig-tree  in  the  way,  he  came  to  it,  and  found  nothing  there- 
on, but  leaves  only,  and  said  unto  it.  Let  no  fruit  grow  on 
thee  henceforward  for  ever,"  or,  in  the  language  of  another 
evangelist,  he  "cursed"  it.  "And  presently  the  fig-tree 
withered  away."  Some  will  say  this  seems  a  very  impetuous 
act.  It  looks,  and  has  been  construed  by  the  sceptic,  as  if 
Jesus  being  hungry,  was  disappointed  in  finding  no  fruit,  and 
instantly  in  a  burst  of  passion  cursed  the  fig-tree.     That  is 


MATTHEW   XXI.  249 

the  world's  paraphrase  or  commentary  upon  this  event. 
But  it  is  no  such  thing.  In  the  first  place,  remember  that 
to  curse,  in  Scripture,  does  not  mean  to  pronounce  or  utter 
angry  language,  or  give  vent  to  violent  imprecation.  All  it 
means  is  to  separate  to  destruction.  Recollect,  too,  that  this 
is,  I  believe,  almost  the  only  instance  of  retribution,  or  of  a 
curse,  using  it  in  that  sense,  in  the  whole  of  the  miracles  of 
our  blessed  Lord ;  and,  singular  enough,  that  only  instance 
is,  not  of  a  living  man  struck  dead,  but  of  an  inanimate  tree 
without  sensibility  blasted  or  withered.  Again,  recollect  it 
was  not  a  fact  merely  for  the  fact's  sake,  or  for  a  display  of 
power,  but  a  parable.  The  Jewish  nation  is  likened  again 
and  again  to  the  fig-tre-e ;  and  this  incident  was  brought  out 
to  impress  upon  them  that  they  had  the  fine  soil,  the  bright 
suns,  the  rich  dews ;  but  that  notwithstanding  these  advan- 
tages, when  the  great  Lord  comes  seeking  fruit,  instead  of 
finding  what  might  have  been  expected,  he  finds  none  :  and 
therefore,  they  should  recollect  that  as  it  was  with  the  fig- 
tree,  it  would  be  with  them.  Remember,  also,  that  on  a  fig- 
tree  the  fruit  appears  before  the  leaves;  but  this  tree 
was  covered  w^ith  leaves,  which  was  a  declaration  that  it 
had  fruit ;  and  when  Jesus  saw  it  without  the  fruit,  it  was 
the  exact  type  of  the  Jewish  nation,  with  all  the  appearance 
of  real  religion,  but  with  no  practical  piety  below  it.  This 
is  a  proof,  too,  how  God  dealt  with  that  nation.  It  is  still 
under  an  anathema,  withered  down  to  the  very  root,  and 
every  Jew  upon  the  streets  is  a  branch  and  an  evidence  of 
it.  The  expression,  "  Let  no  fruit  grow  on  thee  hencefor- 
ward for  ever,"  is  perhaps  over  strong,  —  "  for  ever,"  is  not 
the  Greek  word  translated  "  for  ever,"  in  the  sense  of  ever- 
lasting;  but,  "Let  no  fruit  grow  on  thee  elg top  aluva,"  that 
is,  "until  the  age."  What  age?  Why,  the  age  when  the 
fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come,  and  the  Jew  shall  be 
graffed  in,  and  shall  cease  to  be  barren,  and  bear  fruit  abun- 
dantly as  the  rest  of  God's  redeemed  people.  (See  Romans 
xi.) 


250  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

No  doubt  the  Jewish  nation  is  the  race  of  which  the  fig- 
tree  was  the  symbol,  and  whose  fate  was  foreshadowed  by 
its  destruction.  The  Gentiles  made  no  profession  of  religion, 
—  they  made  no  pretensions  to  it  at  all. 

The  Gentiles  were  the  naked  stems  that  spread  their 
skeleton  branches  in  the  frosty  and  biting  winds,  with  neither 
life,  nor  bud,  nor  promise  of  fruit  or  blossom.  They  did 
not  pretend  to  bear  any  thing.  But  the  Jews  professed  to 
bear  the  choicest  fruit ;  they  were  clothed  with  the  leaves 
of  profession ;  they  bare  even  the  blossoms  that  indicated 
the  approach  and  the  advent  of  fruit.  They  were  righteous, 
as  they  thought  themselves  ;  they  treated  with  supercilious 
contempt  all  the  nations  of  the  world  besides  ;  they  professed 
to  have  a  righteousness  so  great  that  it  was  adequate  to  jus- 
tify them  ;  and  they  declared  that  the  Gentiles  had  sunk 
into  a  degradation  so  complete  that  they  were  not  fit  to  com- 
municate with  them,  or  even  in  any  degree  to  be  admitted 
to  the  participation  of  their  peculiar  advantages.  Our  Lord 
wished  to  teach  them  this  lesson,  —  that  the  Jew,  with  his 
blossoms  without  fruit,  was  nearer  cursing  than  the  Gentile, 
who  had  neither  leaf,  nor  blossom,  nor  fruit ;  because  the 
first  had  great  advantages,  and  only  great  hypocrisy  as  the 
result  of  them  ;  while  the  last  had  great  disadvantages,  no 
pretension,  and  little  else  might  reasonably  be  expected 
from  them.  It  is,  therefore,  in  such  words  as  these  that  this 
miracle  is  described  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  when  he  said, 
"  Behold,  thou  art  called  a  Jew,  and  restest  in  the  law,  and 
makest  thy  boast  of  God,  and  knowest  his  will,  and  approvest 
the  things  that  are  more  excellent,  being  instructed  out  of 
the  law ;  and  art  confident  that  thou  thyself  art  a  guide  of 
the  bhnd,*a  light  of  them  which  are  in  darkness,  an  instructor 
of  the  foolish,  a  teacher  of  babes,  which  hast  the  form  of 
knowledge  and  of  the  truth  in  the  law."  These  are  the 
blossoms,  these  are  the  leaves  upon  the  fig-tree ;  but  then, 
mark  the  evidence  that  there  was  no  fruit :  "  Thou,  therefore, 


MATTHEW   XXI.  251 

which  teachest  another,  teachest  thou  not  thyself?  thou  that 
preachest  a  man  should  not  steal,  dost  thou  steal  ?  thou  that 
sayest  a  man  should  not  commit  adultery,  dost  thou  commit 
adultery  ?  thou  that  abhorest  idols,  dost  thou  commit  sacri- 
lege ?  thou  that  makest  thy  boast  of  the  law,  through  break- 
ing the  law  dishonorest  thou  God  ?  For  the  name  of  God 
is  blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles  through  you,  as  it  is 
written.  For  circumcision  verily  profiteth,  if  thou  keep  the 
law :  but  if  thou  be  a  breaker  of  the  law,  thy  circumcision 
is  made  uncircumcision.  Therefore  if  the  uncircumcision 
(that  is,  the  Gentiles,)  keep  the  righteousness  of  the  law, 
shall  not  his  uncircumcision  be  counted  for  circumcision  ? 
And  shall  not  uncircumcision  which  is  by  nature,  if  it  fulfil 
the  laAv,  judge  thee  (the  Jew,  that  is),  who  by  the  letter  and 
circumcision  dost  transgress  the  law  ?  "  AVe  have  the  very 
same  idea  carried  out  in  explanatory  language  in  the  tenth 
chapter,  where  the  apostle  says,  "  For  they  (the  Jews) 
being  ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  and  going  about  to 
establish  their  own  righteousness,  have  not  submitted  them- 
selves unto  the  righteousness  of  God."  "  To  Israel  he  saith, 
All  day  long  have  I  stretched  forth  my  hands  unto  a  disobe- 
dient and  gainsaying  people."  "  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that 
wdiich  he  seeketh  for ;  but  the  election  hath  obtained  it,  and 
the  rest  were  blinded  (according  as  it  is  written,  God  hath 
given  them  the  spirit  of  slumber,  eyes  that  they  should  not 
see,  and  ears  that  they  should  not  hear ;)  unto  this  day. 
And  David  saith.  Let  their  table  be  made  a  snare,  and  a 
trap,  and  a  stumblingblock,  and  a  recompense  unto  them  :  let 
their  eyes  be  darkened,  that  they  may  not  see,  and  bow 
down  their  back  alway."  Now,  in  all  these  words  used  by 
the  apostle  in  his  address  to  the  Roman  Christians,  we  have 
the  exposition  in  clear  and  common  words,  of  the  great  idea 
which  is  embodied  in  the  semiparable,  semimiracle  on 
which  I  am  now  commenting.  He  shows  that  the  Jews  had 
all  the  temporal  advantages  a  nation  could  possibly  enjoy; 


252  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  they  had  great  moral  and  spiritual  privileges,  such  as 
no  nation  on  earth  had  ever  reached  before  ;  that  they  shot 
forth  in  all  directions  the  green  and  promising  leaves  of  a 
large  and  rich  profession. 

They  professed  to  be  something,  —  to  be  exalted  above, 
and  distinguished  from,  the  rest  of  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
and  therefore  something  was  to  be  exp-ected  from  them  ;  but 
when  the  great  Lord  of  the  vineyard  came  and  saw  the 
leaves,  find  began  to  search  for  fruit,  you  might  expect  that 
if  the  Gentiles  were  left,  the  Jew  should  be  cursed,  and  that 
the  blasting  of  the  fig-tree  was  no  less  merited  than  it  was 
natural  to  that  guilty  and  ungrateful  nation.  And  have  we 
not,  in  the  existence  of  the  Jew  in  our  land,  irresistible  and 
awful  evidence  of  the  blasted  fig-tree  ? 

What  is  all  Palestine  but  God's  fig-tree,  in  the  language 
of  Hosea,  "  barked  and  laid  low  ?  "  What  is  the  Jewish 
nation  in  every  part  of  the  world,  but  the  withered  and 
blasted  branches  of  the  once  fruitful,  the  now  scarcely  pro- 
fessing fig-tree  ? 

Palestine  itself,  at  this  moment,  seems  almost  overspread 
by  the  curse.  Its  cities  are  the  cities  of  the  dead  ;  its  every 
acre  is  covered  with  the  tombs  of  departed  ages  ;  it  has  a 
soil  fit  to  grow  corn  that  would  positively  crowd  and  over- 
flow all  tlie  granaries  of  the  world,  but  it  cannot  provide 
corn  enough  to  feed  its  miserable,  its  starved  and  wretched 
peasantry.  At  this  very  moment  there  is  no  Mount  Nebo, 
or  Mount  Pisgab,  from  wliicli  a  successor  of  Moses  can  see 
a  goodly  land  overflowing  with  milk  and  honey.  On  every 
part  of  that  land  the  iron  hoof  of  the  Arab  steed,  and  the 
naked  foot  of  the  Papal  monk,  have  trod  in  succession,  and 
warred  for  supremacy.  In  rapid  succession  the  Roman,  the 
Persian,  the  Arab,  the  Turk,  the  robber,  have  taken  posses- 
sion of  Palestine,  and  the  poor  Jew  —  the  fig-tree  blasted, 
deservedly  blasted  —  has  a  home  anywhere  and  everywhere ; 
but  least  a  home  in  his  own  home ;  has  possessions  every- 


MATTHEW    XXI.  253 

where,  but  none  in  that  hind  which  is  held  by  title  deeds 
more  lasting  than  those  of  the  aristocracy  of  England ;  his 
title  deeds  are  in  Ezekiel,  in  Jeremiah,  in  Isaiah,  in  the 
Psalms,  and  must  last  and  live  for  eVer  and  ever.  You 
have,  then,  in  the  Jew,  wherever  you  find  him,  a  blasted 
fig-tree,  a  miracle-stricken  nation,  a  people  scathed  by  a 
curse  which  cleaves  to  them  and  consumes  them  ;  the  peo- 
ple of  the  weary  foot,  the  exiles  of  the  earth  ;  in  it,  and  not 
of  it ;  as  if  their  very  existence  was  a  symbol  of  what  God's 
people  should  be,  —  in  the  world,  and  not  of  the  world. 

We  then  come  to  an  interview  between  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  and  Jesus,  when  they  asked  him,  "  By  what  author- 
ity doest  thou  these  things  ?  "  If  this  question  had  been  an 
honest  one,  our  Lord  would  have  answered  it  as  the  ques- 
tion demanded ;  but  it  was  a  mere  attempt  to  ensnare  him. 
They  saw  his  miracles,  and  heard  his  words.  His  words 
were  the  echoes  of  ancient  prophecy  ;  his  miracles  were 
the  credentials  of  a  present  God :  and  therefore  to  ask  such 
a  question  was  merely  to  try  to  catch  him  in  a  snare.  But 
Jesus  answered  them  by  asking  another  question,  "  The  bap- 
tism of  John,  whence  was  it  ?  from  heaven,  or  of  men  ?  " 
Thus  were  the  wise  caught  in  their  own  craftiness.  If  they 
had  said,  "  From  heaven,"  he  would  have  said,  "  Why  then 
did  you  accept  it  ? "  If  they  had  said,  "  Of  men,"  then  . 
they  would  have  been  deposed  by  the  people  from  Moses' 
seat,  as  being  ignorant,  and  not  enhghtened  doctors  of  the 
Law.  And  therefore,  in  order  to  prevent  present  conse- 
quences, they  told  a  direct  lie,  "  We  cannot  tell." 

We  read  next  of  another  instance  of  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  —  "A  certain  man  had  two  sons ;  and  he  came  to  the 
first,  and  said.  Son,  go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard.  He 
answered  and  said,  I  will  not :  but  afterwards  he  repented, 
and  went.  And  he  came  to  the  second,  and  said  likewise. 
And  he  answered  and  said,  I  go,  sir :  and  went  not.  Whether 
of  them  twain  did  the  will  of  his  father  ?  "  —  the  Pharisee, 
22 


254  SCRIPTrRE    READINGS. 

who  says,  I  go  ;  but  neither  goes  himself,  nor  lets  others  go : 
or  the  Gentile,  who  now  says,  I  will  not  go ;  but  afterwards 
is  converted  and  believes,  and  does  go  ?  They  saw  and  felt 
the  rebuke  immediately. 

He  then  borrows  a  figure  from  Isaiah  relating  to  the  vine- 
yard —  "A  certain  householder  let  out  his  vineyard  to  hus- 
bandmen, and  went  into  a  far  country.  And  he  sent  his 
servants  to  receive  the  fruits  of  it."  The  servants  were 
taken,  and  some  were  stoned,  and  some  were  slain.  Isaiah 
was  cruelly  put  to  death ;  others  of  the  prophets  were 
stoned,  and  others  were  rejected  by  the  people  to  whom  they 
came.  Afterwards  he  sent  his  son,  saying,  "  They  will 
reverence  my  son."  But  when  the  son  came,  they  resolved 
to  destroy  him,  and  did  kill  him.  Then  Jesus,  after  relat- 
ing this  story,  asks,  "  What  would  you  now,  as  honest  men, 
expect  that  the  great  proprietor  of  the  vineyard  would  do 
to  such  a  race,  who  had  first  killed  his  servants,  and  then  his 
son  ?  "  They  said,  what  any  one  would  have  said  in  similar 
circumstances,  "  lie  will  miserably  destroy  those  wicked 
men."  God  sent  forth  prophets,  priests,  extraordinary  teach- 
ers, and,  lastly,  his  Son ;  but  the  only  reception  this  last 
received  from  the  persons  in  the  vineyard  was,  "  Away  with 
him,  away  with  him  ;  crucify  him,  crucify  him  ;  "  and  with 
wicked  hands  they  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  What  will 
God  do  to  this  Jewish  vineyard  ?  He  will  scatter  the  nation 
to  the  four  winds  of  heaven  ;  he  will  leave  it  to  be  trodden 
down  by  the  Moslem,  the  Arab,  and  the  Bedouin,  and  the 
Romanist ;  and  the  Gentiles  shall  get  possession  of  the  bless- 
ings until  that  day  when  the  Jews  shall  be  grafFed  in. 

He  next  quotes  the  Psalm  that  he  had  quoted  before  — 
"  Did  ye  never  read  in  the  Scriptures,  The  stone  which 
the  builders  rejected,  the  same  is  become  the  head  of  the 


corner  r 


?" 


Let  us  see,  my  dear  friends,  that  we  are  not  barren,  but 
fruitful  fig-trees.     Let  us  see  that  in  this  vineyard  we  are 


MATTHEW   XXI.  255 

reverencing  Him  who  has  redeemed  us  by  his  blood,  and 
who  tends  it,  and  cares  for  it  every  day.  Let  us  remember, 
as  a  nation,  that  what  occurred  to  the  Jew  is  still  applicable 
and  possible  to  us.  If  we  give  this  wicked  reception  to 
God's  providential  and  evangelical  missionaries,  and  to  the 
Word  of  God,  and  the  privileges  that  we  enjoy,  he  will  mis- 
erably destroy  our  nation,  and  give  our  privileges  to  others. 
The  Church  is  a  candlestick  —  not  a  fixture,  but  a  movable 
thing ;  and  when  a  nation  fails  to  use  it  as  it  should,  it  will 
be  removed  from  its  place,  as  the  seven  churches  of  Asia 
testify,  and  given  to  another. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

THE   GREAT   FEAST  —  THE    INVITED — THE   DESPISERS. 

The  chapter  opens  with  a  parable,  and  continues  and  con- 
cludes with  a  series  of  carping  questions  prepared  and  put 
to  our  Lord  by  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees.  These  men 
sought  not  information  to  guide  them,  but  labored,  if  possi- 
ble, to  make  snares  wherein  to  catch  the  Great  Teacher. 
The  chapter,  I  have  said,  begins  with  a  parable,  which  is  a 
similitude,  a  fact,  or  story,  real  or  supposed,  recorded  in 
order  to  be  the  mirror  and  the  background  of  some  great 
spiritual  lesson  or  seasonable  and  precious  truth.  He  says, 
"  The  kingdom  of  heaven,"  that  is,  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion, composed  of  baptized  and  regenerate,  of  those  who  are 
professors  and  those  who  are  true  Christians,  "  is  like  unto 
a  certain  king  which  made  a  marriage  for  his  son."  The 
word  translated  "  marriage  "  may  be  applied  to  any  festival, 
feast,  or  banquet,  prepared  either  at  the  marriage  of  a  son, 
or  on  his  accession  to  some  dignity,  or  at  his  coming  of  age. 
It  denotes  a  royal  banquet,  to  which  the  king,  in  his  conde- 
scension, is  pleased  to  invite  many  in  the  terms  recorded  in 
the  sequel  of  the  parable.  He  "  sent  forth  his  servants  to 
call  them  that  were  bidden  to  the  wedding :  and  they  would 
not  come."  The  provision  of  the  Gospel  is  the  festival ;  the 
servants  are  the  apostles,  the  evangelists,  the  ministers  of 
the  truth  in  every  age,  and  Jesus  himself,  above  all,  who 
took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  became  the 
preacher  of  that  salvation  of  Avhich  He  was  also  the  author. 


MATTHEW    XXII.  257 

These  servants  invited  many  to  come  and  participate  in  this 
festival.  The  Great  King  would  not  be  alone ;  and  it  is 
said,  what  is  painful  to  find  still,  not,  they  could  not  come, 
because  it  was  so  decreed,  but,  "they  would* not  come."  It 
was  neither  to  their  taste,  disj^osition,  nor  liking.  They 
minded  other  things.  The.  reason  why  any  one  rejects  the 
Gospel  is,  not  that  he  cannot  believe,  but  that  he  will  not 
believe.  The  inability  is  in  the  heart,  not  in  his  own  phys- 
ical power.  And  therefore,  if  any  one  perish,  it  is  because 
he  will  not,  not  because  he  cannot  be  saved.  The  lost  are 
suicides. 

But,  when  these  refused,  "  he  sent  forth  other  servants." 
First,  he  sent  the  prophets  of  old  to  offer  salvation  to  the 
Jews ;  next  he  sent  the  apostles  and  evangelists  to  offer  it 
to  those  to  whom  it  never  had  been  offered  before.  And  he 
gives  them  the  strongest  of  all  reasons,  "  My  oxen  and  my 
failings  are  killed,  and  all  things  are  ready :  come  unto  the 
marriage."  You  have  not  something  to  do,  or  something  to 
pay,  or  something  to  offer ;  or  a  month,  a  day,  or  a  year  to 
wait ;  but  "  all  things  are  ready;  "  sacrifice  is  offered — the 
price  is  paid  —  the  gates  are  open,  and  all  that  you  have  to 
do  is  to  believe  God's  sincerity  in  inviting  you,  and  joy  in 
giving  welcome  :  accept  the  invitation,  eat,  drink,  and  be 
happy.  Thus  it  is  with  the  blessed  Gospel.  We  have  not 
a  sacrifice  to  make,  nor  an  atonement  to  offer ;  this  He  did, 
once  for  all.  We  have  nothing  to  pay ;  the  debt  is  paid ; 
nothing  to  promise,  for  all  is  unconditional ;  nothing  to 
pledge,  but  simply  to  believe  God's  testimony  respecting  his 
Son,  and  be  saved,  and  act  as  the  new  relationship  prompts. 

But,  it  is  said,  "they  made  light  of  it."  What  a  sad 
statement  is  here  of  the  reception  given  by  sinners,  to  the 
Gospel !  Men  make  light  of  God's  love ;  they  make  light 
of  Christ's  sufferings  ;  they  make  light  of  their  own  peril ; 
they  disregard  and  treat  with  contempt  ahke  the  promises 
and  threats  of  the  blessed  Gospel.  And  if  they  were  sinful 
22* 


258  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

who  made  light  of  an  invitation  to  a  festival  that  was  soon 
finished,  how  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation 
for  us  already  prepared  ? 

And  the  reaso1\  they  made  light  of  it  was,  not  that  they  posi- 
tively disapproved  or  disliked  the  provision,  but  that  they 
had  a  stronger  liking  of  something  else  —  another  preference 
shut  out  this.  The  reason  why  men  will  not  accept  Chris- 
tianity is,  not  that  they  dislike  it  instinctively,  or  after  having 
put  it  to  the  test,  but  because  they  so  like  something 
extrinsic  to  it,  that  they  have  no  time  to  examine  it  at  all, 
and  no  room  in  their  hearts  for  its  presence.  The  reason 
why  these  men  would  not  come  to  the  festival,  and  made  light 
of  it,  was,  not  that  they  disapproved  of  it,  or  disbelieved  the 
person  who  invited  them,  but  that  they  were  so  taken  up 
with  other  avocations,  so  absorbed,  one  with  his  farm,  and 
another  with  his  merchandise,  that  they  had  no  time  to  give 
the  invitation  serious  and  solemn  consideration.  Perimus  in 
Ileitis  is  an  ancient  proverb  ;  that  is,  we  perish,  not  so 
much  by  doing  what  is  sinful,  as  by  the  excessive  and  idola- 
trous love  of  what  is  perfectly  lawful.  Sin  consists  not 
only  in  doing  what  is  wrong,  but  it  consists  also  in  so  loving 
something  that  is  right,  that  that  something  dislodges  from 
the  heart  the  higher,  holier,  and  more  instant  claims  of  the 
soul,  of  eternity,  and  of  God. 

These  parties  not  only  did  thus  make  light  of  the  welcome, 
but  they  evidently  became  provoked  with  the  earnestness  of 
the  servants,  and  in  consequence  entreated  them  spitefully, 
"  and  slew  them."  John  the  Baptist  preached  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  liked  by  Herod  ;  but  when  he  came  to  press  home 
too  closely  and  earnestly  his  message,  Herod  consented  to 
the  beheading  of  the  preacher.  So,  those  who  were  invited, 
at  first  were  indifferent,  next  were  exasperated,  and  lastly 
became  persecutors  of  them  who  simply  did  their  duty  to 
their  Lord,  and  tried  to  do  them  good. 

"When  the  king  heard   thereof,  he  was  wroth;  and  he 


MATTHEW  XXII.  259 

sent  forth  his  armies,  and  destroyed  those  murderers,  and 
burned  up  their  city."  This  parable  up  to  this  point  was 
fulfilled  in  the  case  of  the  Jews.  They  were  offered  the 
Gospel  first  by  the  prophets,  and  next  by  the  apostles  and 
evangelists ;  they  rejected  and  slew  both ;  and  at  last  the 
Great  King  "  sent  forth  his  armies,  and  burned  up  their 


CHAPTER    XXII. 


THE    UNWORTHl  — THE   WEDDING    ROBE  —  THE    SADDUCEES  —  THE 
RESURRECTION  —  A   SNARE   LAID. 

After  the  Jews  had  refused,  the  king  said  to  his  ser- 
vants, "  The  wedding  is  ready,  but  they  which  were  bidden 
were  not  worthy."  How  not  worthy?  Simply,  because 
they  judged  themselves  so;  or,  as  it  might  be  rendered, 
they  were  not  meet,  they  were  not  in  that  mood  or  frame  of 
mind  that  would  have  led  them  to  accept  it.  And  this 
explains  what  is  meant  by  worthy  and  unworthy  communi- 
cants — "  He  that  eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,  eateth 
and  drinketh  condemnation,"  or,  as  it  should  be  rendered, 
"judgment  to  himself."  But  the  person  who  feels  most 
unworthy  to  come  to  the  Lord's  supper,  is  really  most 
worthy ;  because  if  we  wait  till  we  are  worthy,  in  its  strict 
sense,  we  shall  never  come  at  all.  But  the  meaning  of 
"  worthy,"  as  applied  to  the  Lord's  supper,  is  meet,  with 
that  disposition  of  mind,  with  that  attachment  to  our  blessed 
Lord,  with  that  submission  to  his  laws,  with  that  obedience 
to  his  will,  which  is  the  inseparable  characteristic  of  a  true 
Christian. 

"  Go  ye  therefore,"  he  says,  "  into  the  highways,  and  as 
many  as  ye  shall  find,  bid  to,  the  marriage.  So  those  ser- 
vants went  out  into  the  highways,  and  gathered  together  all 
as  many  as  they  found."  "  The  highways,"  that  is,  the  nooks 
and  lanes,  the  hedges,  ditches,  and  by-roads,  where  beggars 
and  outcasts  of  society  are,  or  such  as  are  called,  in  a  paper 


MATTHEW    XXII.  '261 

with  -which  I  have  been  furnished  on  the  lodging-houses  of 
London,  the  "  Arabs "  of  the  metropoHs,  whose  hand  is 
against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  them,  who 
are  neglected  by  us,  and  not  brought  within  the  reach  of 
Christian  education,  and  for  whose  condition  we  are  more  or 
less  responsible  in  the  sight  of  God.  Well,  they  went  to 
the  very  lowest  strata  of  the  social  system,  and  invited  them 
to  this  wedding.  You  see  how  low  the  Gospel  goes.  The 
oldest  and  the  youngest,  the  most  inveterate  and  the  most 
guilty,  are  welcome  to  the  great  remedial  provision  that  is 
laid  up  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ;  so  that  if  any  one  who  has 
ever  heard  a  Gospel  sermon,  perish,  it  is  not  from  want  of 
willingness  in  the  great  King  to  receive  him. 

The  wedding  having  been  thus  "  furnished  with  guests, 
the  king  came  in  to  see  them,  and  he  saw  there  a  man 
which  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment :  and  he  saith  unto 
him,  Friend,"  —  eralpe,  "  companion"  —  it  is  a  kind  word, — 
"  how  camest  thou  in  hither,  not  having  a  wedding  gar- 
ment ?  And  he  w^as  speechless."  There  are  two  explana- 
tions of  this.  One  is,  (and  I  think  it  a  very  just  one,)  that 
on  all  these  great  public  occasions  robes  are  hung  up  in  the 
hall,  and  any  one  who  came  to  seat  himself  at  table,  had  to 
put  on  one  of  these  robes  before  he  presented  himself  before 
the  king.  This  person,  therefore,  passed  by  the  robe  that 
hung  in  the  hall  for  his  acceptance,  and  said  to  himself  sub- 
stantially, "  My  own  clothing  is  good  enough  to  appear  in 
before  any  king  on  earth.  I  do  not  regard  kings  with  so 
much  deference.  I  am  a  thorough  democrat  —  a  real  social- 
ist. My  clothing  is  good  enough  for  royalty,  and  I  will  go 
and  seat  myself  at  that  table  just  as  I  am."  But  when  the 
king  asked  him  wdiy  he  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment,  he 
dared  not  offer  any  excuse,  he  was  speechless.  He  was 
overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  the  utter  paltriness  of  the  reason 
that  he  had  made  to  himself ;  and  therefore,  with  a  prudence 
that  he  did  not  show  on  entering,  he  was  speechless.     It  is 


262  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

a  very  bad  case,  for  which  nothing  can  be  said.  The  otlier 
explanation  is,  that  the  robe  was  not  hung  up  for  every  one 
to  accept,  but  that  every  one  knew  the  custom  of  the  coun- 
try, which  was,  that  he  should  come  with  some  preparation 
for  the  feast.  The  fact  that  he  was  speechless,  shows  that 
he  could  not  say,  "  I  could  not  afford  a  robe,"  or  "  I  could 
not  find  one,"  but  that  the  only  reason  why  he  had  not  on  a 
wedding  garment,  was  simply  because  he  thought  his  own 
dress  good  enough  for  the  royal  presence.  My  dear  friends, 
there  is  a  wedding  robe  for  every  one  in  this  assembly,  if  he 
will  take  it.  It  is  most  important  that  every  one  should 
feel  this  solemn  responsibility,  that,  when  asked  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat why  he  is  not  arrayed  in  that  raiment,  white  and 
clean,  which  is  the  righteousness  of  saints,  he  will  be  speech- 
less. Nobody  will  be  able  to  say,  "  I  could  not  get  to 
heaven,  and  therefore  I  am  not  to  be  blamed."  Nobody 
will  be  able  to  say,  "  I  tried  to  get  a  robe,  but  none  would 
give  it  me."  Nobody  will  dare  to  say,  "  The  blame  is  not 
mine,  but  thine."  Here  is  the  robe  ;  it  is  unto  all  and  upon 
all  that  believe.  We  are  saved,  (hear  it,  and  repeat  it, 
wherever  there  are  ears  to  hear,)  not  by  any  thing  done  by 
us,  but  by  something  done  for  us.  We  are  saved,  not  by 
something  that  we  weave  ourselves,  but  by  a  robe  laid  up, 
which  we  have  but  to  accept,  and  put  on,  and  be  justified, 
accepted,  and  acquitted  in  the  sight  of  God.  What  a  beau- 
tiful exposition  of  the  Gospel  is  this ;  and  how  justly  was 
this  person  "  cast  into  outer  darkness,  where  there  is  weep- 
ing and  gnashing  of  teeth !  " 

We  have  then  the  account  of  the  Pharisees  and  the 
Herodians  coming  to  Jesus,  and  trying  to  "entangle  him" 
on  that  very  delicate  but  true  distinction  that  subsists  be- 
tween the  jurisdiction  of  Caesar  and  the  jurisdiction  of  God ; 
or  rather,  their  attempt  to  bring  him  into  difficulty  either 
with  the  crowd,  who  applauded  him,  or  with  the  Herodians, 
and  through   them  with   the  Idumean,  who  occupied  the 


MATTHEW   XXII.  263 

throne  at  that  time  as  the  representative  of  Caesar.  If 
Jesus  had  said,  It  is  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Ca3sar,  the 
Jews  would  have  all  risen  up  against  him.  If  he  had  said, 
No ;  Herod  would  have  accused  him  of  treason. 

After  the  Herodians  and  the  Pharisees  had  failed,  the 
next  wdio  came  were  the  Sadducees.  The  Pharisees  be- 
lieved the  Old  Testament,  but  they  added  to  it  the  Rabbini- 
cal traditions.  The  Sadducees  accepted  only  the  Penta- 
teuch, or  the  five  books  of  Moses,  thus  rejecting  the  proph- 
ets, and  also  tradition.  They  disbelieved  also  the  existence 
of  the  soul  as  separate  from  the  body,  and  also  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  at  the  last  day.  This  will  explain  some  of 
the  answers  of  Jesus  in  this  statement.  They  put  a  case, 
not  an  actual  one,  but  a  hypothetical  one,  and  they  made  it 
very  extreme,  in  order  to  make  it  the  more  palpable.  They 
supposed  that  a  woman  had  seven  husbands  in  succession ; 
and  they  said,  if  all  are  to  be  raised,  who  will  claim  that 
■wife  in  the  resurrection  ?  The  answer  was,  that  those  ties, 
as  far  as  their  reciprocal  obligations  are  concerned,  are  all 
confined  to  the  age  that  now  is ;  that  in  that  future  dispen- 
sation they  will  be  dissolved ;  that  whilst  there  will  be  the 
recognition  of  relations  who  were  lost  on  earth,  the  relation- 
ship will  not  be  what  it  now  is,  but  something  far  higher, 
nobler,  better,  and  lasting  as  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
itself.  "  In  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry,  nor  are 
given  in  marriage,"  but  they  occupy  a  position,  not  as  if 
they  were  destitute  of  bodies,  but  like  the  angels  in  heaven, 
all  independent  of  each  other,  and  in  common  dependent 
upon  God. 

Our  Lord  instantly  explains  to  them  how  the  resurrection 
and  the  separate  existence  of  the  soul,  which  they  denied, 
must  be  true,  by  referring  to  that  beautiful  statement  in  the 
third  chapter  of  Exodus,  "  Have  ye  not  read  that  which 
was  spoken  unto  you  by  God,  saying,  I  am  the  God  of 
Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  ? 


264  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living."  If  He 
be  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  then  they 
are  the  property  of  God ;  but  if  they  be  annihilated  in  soul 
and  body,  then  there  cannot  be  any  property  in  them. 
They  cannot  be  the  property  of  God,  if  your  notion  be 
true,  that  their  souls  are  annihilated,  and  that  their  bodies 
have  ceased  for  ever  to  have  any  possibility  of  a  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead.  The  argument  is  conclusive,  that  the 
fact  that  they  are  the  property  of  God  is  proof  that  their 
souls  live  with  him  in  glory,  and  that  their  dead  dust  is  knit 
to  him  by  a  covenant  that  never  can  be  broken,  and  shall 
hear  his  bidding  at  the  last  day,  and  come  forth  to  the  resur- 
rection of  everlasting  life. 

Well,  "  when  the  Pharisees,"  after  having  been  once 
repelled,  "  had  heard  that  he  had  put  the  Sadducees  to 
silence,  they  were  gathered  together.  Then  one  of  them, 
which  was  a  lawyer,  asked  him  a  question,  tempting  him, 
and  saying,  "  Master,  which  "  —  iroia  —  of  what  sort  — 
what  is  your  description  of —  "  which  is  the  great  command- 
ment in  the  law  ?  "  Jesus  then  summed  up  the  whole  deca- 
logue in  two  short,  but  comprehensive  epitomes,  —  the  first 
embracing  the  first  four  commandments,  "  Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind,"  —  the  second  embracing  the  last  six 
commandments,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
In  the  moral  law  on  Sinai  it  was  negative  — "  Thou  shalt 
not."  In  the  summary  of  it  by  Jesus  it  is  presented  in  its 
positive  aspect  —  "  Thou  shalt  love  God,  and  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself."  It  is  explained  elsewhere,  that  love  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law.  The  great  question  then,  is,  How  shall 
man  get  the  seed  of  love  replanted,  or  resown,  in  his  heart.'' 
The  answer  is.  We  love  God,  because  he  loved  us.  God's 
intense  love  to  us  produces  responsive  love  in  our  hearts  to 
him.  Thus,  Christianity  is  the  only  provision  for  replanting 
love  in  the  human  heart,  and  giving,  not  only  pardon  by  an 


MATTHEW    XXII.  265 

atonement,  but  sanctification  by  the  Spirit,  or  obedience  to 
the  moral  law. 

The  question  put  by  the  lawyer,  whose  object  was  to 
ensnare  Jesus  by  provoking  a  reply  that  might  be  turned 
against  his  popularity  with  the  crowd,  and  in  favor  of  the 
designs  and  desires  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  might  be 
literally  translated,  and  indeed  ought  to  be  translated,  not, 
"  Which  is  the  great  commandment  in  thti  law  ?  "  but,  "  Of 
what  sort  is  the  great  commandment  in  the  law  ?  What  is 
your  description  of  it?  What  is  its  character?  How  do 
you  describe  it  ?  In  what  language  do  you  express  the 
leading  and  prominent  commandment  in  the  law  ?  "  He 
played  into  the  hands  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  so  far, 
because  they  often  made  the  rigid,  mechanical  observance 
of  one  law  an  atonement  or  warrant  for  the  breach  of 
another  law,  the  breach  of  which  was  agreeable  to  their 
taste,  and  convenient  to  their  habits ;  and  he,  being  accus- 
tomed to  hear  that  one  law  was  better  than  another,  and 
that  amid  all  the  laws  there  was  some  chief  and  leading 
one,  asked  our  Lord,  "  Which  of  the  ten  is  the  chief  one, 
and  what  sort  of  one  is  it,  and  how  does  it  bear  upon  our 
responsibilities  ?  Tell  me  what  sort  it  is."  He  did  it, 
tempting  Jesus,  not  for  information,  but  in  order  to  ensnare 
him:  but  our  Lord,  just  as  we  saw  he  did  on  their  asking 
liim,  "Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto  Csesar,  or  not?" 
overlooked  the  motive  that  dictated  the  question,  and  replied 
to  it  with  as  much  magnanimous  forbearance  as  if  they  had 
asked  from  the  purest  motives,  and  desired  from  the  very 
heart  to  have  the  best  and  choicest  information.  He 
answered  at  once,  "  The  great  commandment  is  not,  Thou 
sbalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image  ;  nor  is  it, 
Remember  the  Sabbath  day ;  nor  is  it.  Thou  shalt  not  steal ; 
but  it  is,  first  and  chiefest,  the  emotion  that  the  heart  should 
feel  towards  God ;  and  second,  what  is  its  shadow,  and 
never  absent  companion,  the  feeling  that  the  heart  should 
23 


266  scRirTURE  readings. 

cherish  towards  every  other  heart  that  beats  in  the  world. 
The  first  and  great  commandment  is  not  one  of  the  first 
four  singled  out  for  supremacy  over  the  remaining  three, 
but  it  is  that  feeling  within  which  covers  all  the  four  com- 
mandments of  the  Decalogue  that  relate  to  God ;  and  sec- 
ondly, and  subordinately,  the  feeling  within  that  covers  the 
remaining  commandments  of  God,  and  relates  to  all  your 
duties  to  your  neighbors  and  brethren  of  mankind." 

Now  the  first  four  commandments  are  embosomed  in  the 
words,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind."  Now 
this  law  man  first  broke.  It  was  the  chief  commandment 
that  man  first  violated  in  Paradise.  He  was  placed  under 
this  law ;  he  broke  through  it ;  and  in  doing  so,  he  lost  that 
tendency  to  God,  that  dependence  upon  his  touch,  control, 
and  paternal  government  that  would  be  equivalent  in  mate- 
rial things  to  the  earth  breaking  loose  from  its  attraction  to 
the  sun,  and  wandering  eccentric  from  its  orbit  into  the 
wilds  of  infinite  and  endless  space.  By  the  disruption  of 
this  primal  tic,  this  first  and  chiefest  affection,  love  to  God, 
man  lost  his  anchorage  ground,  and  was  at  sea  without  star 
above,  or  hope  before.  He  broke  loose  from  the  great  cen- 
tral government,  and  became,  in  the  language  of  Scripture, 
a  lost  son,  a  stray  sheep,  dead  in  trespasses,  an  enemy,  a 
stranger,  without  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world. 

Now,  after  this  the  Bible  does  not  assert  that  no  moral 
excellence  survived  in  man,  and  experience  does  not  war- 
rant us  in  saying  so.  There  are  many  beautiful  traits  that 
still  survive  man's  first  loss ;  but  these  beautiful  traits  are 
like  ivy  about  a  ruin,  they  only  serve  to  conceal  the  gigan- 
tic deformity  that  is  within  and  beneath  them.  "Whatever 
excellence  survives  in  man's  heart  is  just  the  remainder  of 
what  he  once  was.  There  is  enough  to  tell  us  how  magnifi- 
cent he  was  in  his  original  relationship  to  God,  and  there  is 
enough  to  prove  to  us  what  a  terrible  dislocation,  what  an 


MATTHEW    XXII.  267 

wwful  wreck,  sin  has  made  of  the  once  lair  and  beautiful 
vessel  of  humanity.  The  Scripture  does  not  assert  that 
man  is  without  any  trace  of  what  he  was,  or  that  he  has  no 
moral  excellence.  "  If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give 
good  gifts  unto  your  children  ;  "  —  there  is  the  affection  of 
parents  to  children,  and  of  children  to  parents.  There  are 
men  constitutionally  honest,  and  generous  —  so  just,  that 
they  would  spurn  to  do  an  unfair  thing  —  so  honorable,  that 
they  would  shrink  from  the  thought  of  a  mean  thing ;  and 
these  graces,  if  I  may  call  them  so,  are  in  their  place  beau- 
tiful. But  what  we  say  is,  that  man  has  lost  the  spring 
and  source  of  all  virtue  that  is  beautiful  before  God,  and 
that  he  has  parted  with  that  supreme  and  vital  feeling,  love 
to  God,  which  gives  beauty  to  every  grace,  vitahty  to  every 
virtue,  and  makes  the  good  tree  bring  forth,  not  only  fair 
and  fragrant,  but  good  fruit  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man. 

Now,  it  is  repeatedly  asserted  in  Scripture  that  in  the 
absence  of  this  love  to  God  no  outward  act  has  any  excel- 
lence in  his  sight.  It  may,  I  repeat,  be  excellent  in  the 
sight  of  man  ;  weighed  in  human  scales,  and  submitted  to 
human  appreciation,  it  may  seem  most  valuable;  but  till 
the  fruit  be  connected  with  love  to  God,  or  the  parent 
stem  —  till  what  you  do  springs  from  what  you  feel  towards 
God,  there  is  not  that  which  will  make  it  acceptable  in  the 
sight  of  God.  There  is  no  real,  lasting,  moral  vitality  in 
the  branch,  plant  it  in  any  soil  you  like,  however  fertile  it 
may  be  in  this  world,  until  it  be  grafted  in  the  parent  stem, 
partake  of  its  sap,  and  bear  blossom  from  its  union  with  it. 
The.  most  splendid  acts  are  but  splendid  sins,  till  they  are 
quickened  with  this  divine  life.  Whatever  is  done  by  an 
unconverted  man  is  a  sin,  when  tested  by  a  holy  and  heart- 
searching  God.  It  is  our  relationship  to  him,  and  his  rela- 
tionship to  us  —  it  is  our  restoration  of  sonship  in  reference 
to  him,  and  the  revelation  of  his  Fatherhood  in  reference  to 
us,  that  communicates   a  new  beauty,  gives  real  life,  and 


268  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

makes  truly  useful  and  good  all  the  fruits,  virtues,  sacrifices, 
or  good  deeds,  that  man  is  able  to  do  by  grace  and  through 
the  Spirit  in  this  present  life. 

The  constant  assertion  of  Scripture  also  is,  not  only  that 
nothing  can  be  really  good  and  lasting  without  this,  but  that 
man  is  by  nature  wholly  destitute  of  this.  He  may  not  be 
destitute  of  many  beautiful  virtues,  but  he  is  wholly  desti- 
tute of  love  to  God.  Nay,  he  is  not  only  destitute  of  love 
to  God,  but  he  has  the  very  opposite  emotion,  and  cherishes 
the  very  opposite  feeling ;  that  is,  hatred  to  God.  He  may 
love  an  idol  he  has  cut  from  the  marble,  or  a  sentimental 
being  he  has  called  up  in  his  own  imagination ;  and  think 
that  by  loving  such  a  being  he  really  loves  God.  But  this 
is  only  making  an  idol  suitable  to  his  taste,  and  loving  that 
idol  instead  of  the  true  and  righteous  God ;  and  thus,  love 
is  not  only  withdrawn  from  God,  to  whom  it  is  supremely 
due,  but  it  is  communicated  and  transferred  to  other  objects, 
to  which  it  was  not  due  at  all.  The  fact  is,  the  feeling  of 
love  survived  the  Fall,  and  man  must  have  something  tj 
occupy  the  niche  that  God  forsook  when  the  sinner  fell 
The  original  law  was,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God." 
God  has  forsaken  us,  because  we  have  forsaken  him ;  but 
the  feeling  of  love,  with  which  man  was  created,  is  just  as 
inseparable  from  his  heart  as  the  feeling  of  hunger  or  thirst 
is  from  his  physical  economy.  Having  lost  God,  the  true 
object,  whom  he  no  longer  loves,  because  that  God  con- 
demns him  for  what  he  is  and  for  what  he  has  done,  he 
finds  other  objects  upon  whom  he  concentrates  that  love, 
and  who  occupy  the  place  that  God  originally  filled.  He 
puts  the  creature  in  the  place  of  the  Creator,  and  loves  the 
former  vastly  riore  than  he  loves  the  latter.  If  man  had 
no  love  at  all  surviving,  then  he  would  seek  nothing  to  take 
the  place  of  God  ;  but  because  he  has  still  the  aff"ection  of 
love,  though  the  Object  be  gone,  he  gropes  about  for  another 
object  to  lean  upon   and  love,  and  give  the  sacrifice  of  his 


MATTHEW    XXII.  269 

feelings  and  his  religious  worship  to.  Hence,  there  never 
has  been  a  nation  without  a  god.  An  atheist  really  and 
speculatively  is,  I  believe,  an  impossibility.  We  never  can 
get  rid  of  the  impression  that  there  is  a  God.  We  may 
modify  our  apprehensions  very  much  of  that  God,  or  we 
may  give  our  worship  to  an  idol,  an  image,  or  a  sentiment; 
but  something  greater  than  himself,  and  more  lasting  than 
life,  man  instinctively  worships,  adores,  and  trusts  in.  But 
supreme  love  to  the  true  and  the  only  God  by  nature  he 
has  not :  on  the  contrarj^,  I  have  said,  he  hates  him. 

You  say,  "  How  can  we  hate  God  ?  "  We  do  not  know 
him.  We  love  our  natural  conceptions  of  God.  Poets 
write  the  most  beautiful  poetry,  and  orators  make  the  most 
eloquent  speeches,  upon  God's  beneficence  and  power ;  but 
God,  as  a  holy  God,  who  will  hate,  punish,  and  extirpate 
sin,  is  a  God  whom  man  cannot  love.  The  best  evidence  of 
this  is,  that  the  intrusion  of  God  many  a  day,  many  an  hour, 
and  into  many  a  thought,  would  be  so  grievous  an  infraction 
of  your  peace,  that  your  heart  would  recoil  from  it,  and  give 
utterance  to  the  wish,  not  dogma,  "  No  God,"  and  show  that 
there  is  latent  in  its  depths  an  instinctive  enmity,  where  you 
thought  there  was  only  approbation,  complacency,  and  love. 

Whatever  change  has  been  wrought  in  man,  the  great 
requirement  of  God  still  remains,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind."  This  laAv  is  not  repealed  by  the  Gospel.  It  is 
obligatory  upon  you  and  me,  upon  angels  and  archangels,  and 
all  created  intelligences.  It  is  binding  on  us  all,  it  is  the 
essence  of  heaven,  it  is  the  atmosphere  of  the  blessed,  it  is 
the  tie  that  knits  a  happy  universe  to  God,  the  disruption 
of  which  would  be  ruin  and  misery  to  the  creature,  and 
dishonor  to  that  God  who  still  says,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart." 

And  therefore,  this  leads  me  to  notice  how  this  love  can 
b^  restored  in  the  heart  of  man.  How  then  is  tlie  element 
23* 


270  SCRIPTUP.E    READINGS. 

of  enmity  to  be  swept  out,  and  the  heart  to  breathe  hence- 
forth love  to  God,  and  the  tie  broken  in  Paradise  to  be  re- 
knit  in  more  than  its  pristine  peace  and  strength?  That 
question  meets  its  answer  from  the  Cross  of  Christ.  The 
law  is  exacting  love  —  "  Thou  shalt  love  ; "  the  Cross  is 
pardoning  love.  We  hear  from  the  law  the  constant  exac- 
tion, "  Thou  shalt  love,"  and  we  feel  that  it  is  as  impossible 
to  love  as  to  rise  from  the  earth,  and  seat  ourselves  amid  the 
fixed  stars  ;  and  the  longer  we  listen  to  a  God  exacting  what 
we  feel  from  our  nature  to  be  an  impossibility,  the  more  hard- 
ened and  exasperated  we  become  ;  and  thus,  the  repetition 
of  the  law,  instead  of  producing  love,  only  increases  the 
enmity  that  was  within  us,  till  we  hate  God  only  the  more 
as  he  repeats  the  command,  '•  Thou  shalt  love."  But  unless 
there  be  love,  there  is  no  life,  there  is  no  salvation,  there  is 
no  happiness.  The  way,  therefore,  that  God  has  taken  to 
produce  it,  is  by  the  Cross.  He  there  proclaims  at  once  this 
great  truth,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish  ; "  and  we,  hearing  that  God  so  loved  us,  that,  to  ex- 
press the  intensity  of  that  love,  he  spared  not  his  own  Son, 
listen  to  these  glad  tidings,  and  study  the  manifestation  of 
this  love  ;  we  learn  that  God,  wlio  loved  us  in  our  Eden 
glory,  loves  us  as  much  in  our  ruins  now,  and  our  confidence 
is  at  once  restored.  We  venture  to  approach  a  God  pardon- 
ing, not  exacting,  proclaiming  his  love  to  us,  and  saying 
nothing  about  our  love  to  him,  and,  in  the  language  of  John, 
"  We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us."  In  other  words, 
the  plan  of  the  law  is  to  insist  upon  love,  "  Thou  shalt  love ; " 
the  plan  of  the  Gospel  is  to  say  nothing  about  what  we  owe 
to  God,  but  to  say  much  about  what  God  has  done  for  us. 
God's  way  to  produce  love  in  the  human  heart  is,  silence 
about  our  duties  to  him,  reiterated  utterance  of  his  love,  and 
sacrifice,  and  interposition  for  us ;  and  we  come  to  regard 
God  no  l^mger  as  exacting  dqties  thjit  we  cannot  discharge, 


MATTHEW   XXII.  271 

but  only  as  bestowing  blessings  that  we  never  deserve ;  and 
by  the  very  nature  of  our  constitution,  and  by  the  very 
nature  of  this  manifestation  of  disinterested  love,  there  is 
produced  responsive  to  it  in  our  hearts  the  beginning  of  that 
love  which  casteth  out  fear,  and  is  only  perfected  in  the 
everlasting  life  of  the  world  that  is  to  come. 

But  even  this  manifestation  of  God's  love  to  us  would  not 
produce  this  love  in  us  to  him,  did  he  not  give  also  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ,  what  he  said,  did,  suf- 
fered, and  purchased,  and  to  apply  them  to  us,  so  that, 
taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  having  God's  love  to  us 
revealed,  expounded,  unfolded,  and  impressed  upon  our 
hearts  by  him,  we  come  by  that  Divine  influence  to  love 
him  who  first  loved  us ;  and  the  moment  this  is  done,  man  is 
restored  to  the  orbit  in  which  he  was  first  placed  ;  he  is 
restored  to  his  original  relationship  to  God  ;  he  no  longer 
sees  God  on  Sinai  exacting  duties  that  he  cannot  pay,  but 
hears  him  in  the  still  small  voice  of  Calvary,  bestowing 
mercies  that  he  did  not  deserve ;  and  he  cannot  help  break- 
ing forth  into  feelings  of  gratitude  and  responsive  love  to 
him,  who  thus,  in  spite  of  our  sins,  loved  us,  and,  in  order  to 
remove  our  sins,  gave  his  Son  to  die  for  us  ;  and  we  come 
to  love  Him  with  all  our  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  who  so 
loved  us,  that  He  spared  not  even  his  own  Son,  but  gave 
him  up  unto  death  for  us  all. 

This  love,  then,  when  once  implanted  in  the  human  heart, 
will  grow  day  by  day  in  vigor,  in  influence,  and  in  power. 
It  is  not  a  dead  thing,  but  a  living  germ  planted  in  the  living 
heart ;  and,  nourished  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  it  grows 
up  into  increasing  love,  till  it  has  no  fear,  and  never  can 
experience  any  failing.  The  more  we  contemplate  the 
object  that  we  love,  the  more  we  shall  be  struck  with  the 
greatness  of  his  love.  The  more  we  study  the  Cross,  the 
more  impressed  we  shall  be  with  the  magnificence  of  the 
love  that  raised  it ;  and  thus  looking  unto  God  loving  us, 


272  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

we  shall  be  changed  from  glory  to  glory,  as  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord,  growing  in  love  to  him,  not  by  hearing  his  exact- 
ing law,  but  by  ever  studying,  ever  meditating  upon  the  sin- 
pardoning  sacrijfice  upon  the  Cross ;  and  we  shall  feel  more 
an  allegiance  grow  within  us  that  has  no  comparison,  and  an 
affection  nourished  within  us  that  can  have  no  equal,  till  at, 
last  we  too  shall  understand  what  that  meaneth,  "  If  any 
man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father,  and  mother,  and 
wife,  and  children,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his 
own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  —  Luke  xiv.  26. 

We  have  now,  in  this  love  planted  in  the  human  heart, 
the  spirit  of  all  obedience  to  God's  law.  To  bring  men  first 
to  the  law,  is  to  read  the  Gospel  backwards  ;  it  is  to  begin 
at  the  end  instead  of  the  beginning.  To  bring  men  first  to 
God,  a  Father  revealed  in  Christ,  as  love,  is  to  begin  where 
God  has  appointed  us  to  begin,  and  beginning  where  he  has 
promised  to  bless  us.  Plant  the  love  in  the  human  heart 
which  the  Cross  necessarily  generates,  and  you  put  in  every 
heart  the  root  that  spreads  out  in  all  the  branches  of  the 
moral  law.  The  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word  —  love.  Love 
is  the  Decalogue  in  a  monosyllable ;  and  the  Decalogue  are 
but  the  branches  that  spring  from  this  root  —  love  in  the 
human  heart.  Hence,  evangelical  preaching,  which  shows 
alone  how  this  love  can  be  generated,  alone  guarantees  that 
there  shall  be  obedience  in  the  life.  Justification  by  faith  is 
the  preface  to  sanctification  of  life,  or  obedience  to  all  the 
requirements  of  the  law.  The  believer  obeys  the  law,  not 
in  order  to  be  justified,  but  because  he  has  been  justified. 
Love  to  the  Justifier  necessarily  delights  in  obeying  the 
law  that  he  has  laid  down.  Outward  obedience  to  holy  law 
is  just  the  outer  life  that  springs  and  is  developed  from  the 
inner  life  of  love  to  God. 

And  wherever  there  is  this  love  to  God,  there  will  be 
assimilation  to  him.  The  very  nature  of  love  is  to  produce 
likeness.     The  painter  who  selects  a  great  master  for  his 


MATTHEW    XXII.  273 

^udy,  instinctively  catches  his  style,  and  imitates  his  paint- 
/hg.  The  poet  or  the  musician,  whatever  be  the  profession, 
"who  prefers  a  certain  master,  naturally  and  instinctively  falls 
into  his  modes,  forms,  traits,  and  distinguishing  characteris- 
tics. And  the  Christian,  whose  heart  is  supremely  set  upon 
the  Great  Master,  and  Teacher,  and  Legislator  of  all,  instinc- 
tively but  progressively  will  be  assimilated  to  his  character, 
and  become  like  Him  whom  he  so  truly  and  deeply  loves. 
"  Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  is 
perfect,"  is  an  absurdity  as  addressed  to  the  unconverted 
man  ;  it  is  the  most  beautiful,  possible,  and  welcome  address 
to  him  who  loves  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  soul,  and 
mind.  And  the  longer  you  live  in  the  light  of  the  coun- 
tenance of  Him  who  is  love,  the  more  sharply  and  distinctly 
the  lines  of  the  long  effaced  and  faded  image  of  God  will 
be  restored  and  thrown  up,  till  at  last  you  are  found  bearing 
the  likeness  of  him  who  loved  you,  the  sons  and  children  of 
our  Father  w^ho  is  in  heaven. 

And  if  you  are  the  subjects  of  this  love,  you  will  love  all 
that  bears  the  superscription  of  God.  You  will  love  the 
Sabbath  as  an  angel  from  the  realms  of  the  blessed,  as  an 
emissary  from  the  brighter  and  the  better  land,  as  a  frag- 
ment of  heaven,  a  foretaste  and  an  earnest  of  the  Sabbath 
that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.  You  will  love  it, 
not  because  it  is  a  respite  from  the  labors  of  the  week,  but 
because  it  bears  upon  its  bright  brow  the  signature  of  your 
Father  in  heaven.  You  will  love  the  house  of  prayer.  It 
is  a  tent  that  is  pitched  on  the  Sabbath,  in  which  God  meets 
you,  and  holds  communion  with  you,  as  he  did  with  Adam 
in  the  cool  of  the  day,  and  amid  the  bowers  and  walks  of 
Paradise.  You  will  prefer  a  day  in  God's  courts  to  a  thou- 
sand in  the  Crystal  Palace.  You  will  regard  every  service 
that  you  join  in,  every  sermon  that  you  hear,  as  a  spring 
in  the  valley  of  Baca,  drinking  from  which  you  are 
strengthened  for  the  journey  that  is  before  you. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

SOLEMN    TRUTHS  —  HYPOCRISY  —  MOSES'    SEAT  —  APOSTOLIC     SUC- 
CESSION —  PHYLACTERIES  —  PRIDE  —  THE    KEYS  MEDIiEVAL 

COPY    OF    PHARISEES  OATHS  —  THE    MADIAIS  —  MISTRANSLA- 
TION. 

I  DO  not  know  a  more  solemn  and  awful  chapter  in  the 
whole  of  the  Gospels  —  certainly  not  in  any  portion  of  the 
discourses  delivered  by  our  blessed  Lord  and  Master  Jesus 
Christ  —  than  this.  But,  you  will  notice,  there  is  nothing 
in  it  to  discourage  the  greatest  of  sinners  that  sincerely 
from  the  heart  seeks  acceptance  before  God ;  whilst  there  is 
every  thing  in  it  to  denounce,  and  to  plunge  (if  that  be 
right)  into  despair  those  who,  conscious  that  their  motives, 
their  ends,  and  their  objects  are  all  wicked,  yet  cover  their 
inward  atrocity  by  an  outside  of  pretended  religion  and  ap- 
parent piety.  It  is  remarkable  that  our  blessed  Lord 
received  to  instant  forgiveness  the  greatest  of  sinners,  but 
that  on  every  occasion  he  denounced  in  the  most  unsparing 
terms  the  very  least  of  pretenders  and  hypocrites.  The  sin 
that  he  denounces  here  is  a  sin  that  provokes  the  scorn  of 
the  high-minded  and  honorable  on  earth,  and  that  only  be- 
comes more  atrocious  and  dreadful  when  real  religion  is 
made  the  pretext  and  the  reason  for  doing  things  that  high- 
minded  men  even  in  this  world  would  abominate  and  shrink 
from  with  all  their  hearts.  Yet  it  is  too  true  that  religion 
has  been  again  and  again  perverted  to  the  worst  of  pur- 
poses. Under  its  cover  and  its  pretence  the  worst  and  the 
most  wicked  things  have  been  done.     But  Avhen  you  hear 


MATTHEW    XXIII.  275 

this,  you  are  not,  as  some  rashly  do,  to  blame  religion,  but 
the  human  heart,  that  seizes  Heaven's  best  and  noblest 
things,  and  turns  them  by  its  perversity^ to  the  worst  and 
most  wicked  of  purposes.  It  is  said  there  is  a  spider  that 
can  suck  poison  even  from  roses ;  in  like  manner,  there 
seems  to  be  a  power  in  the  human  heart  that  can  take  ruin 
from  that  which  should  be  restoration,  and  the  worst  of 
crimes  from  that  which  was  meant  to  put  an  end  to  all  sin, 
and  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness. 

He  begins  this  solemn,  and,  I  may  say,  awful  address,  by 
saying,  "  The  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses'  seat." 
They  occupy  his  place  —  they  are  the  proclaimers  of  his 
laws ;  for  the  testimony  is  written  and  accessible  to  you  as 
well  as  to  them.  "All  therefore  whatsoever  they  bid  you 
observe,  that  observe  and  do."  The  Greek  word  is  not 
TToticj,  but  T7]p£0),  which  means  to  observe  something  that  is 
written  already,  not  to  do  something  proposed  for  the  first 
time ;  and  therefore  it  implies,  "  All  that  those  men  who 
wear  the  mantle,  and  occupy  the  places  of  Moses,  bid  you 
keep,  which  Moses  has  written,  that  keep  and  do."  It  is 
not  a  declaration  that  the  fact  that  they  sat  in  the  seat  of 
Moses  made  them  speak  infallibly ;  and  that,  because  they 
occupied  that  seat,  the  people  were  to  accept  every  thing 
they  said  as  Divine :  but  the  meaning  is,  that  as  long  as 
they  occupied  his  place,  were  clothed  with  his  authority, 
and  spoke  forth  his  words,  not  their  own  —  those  words, 
because  they  were  true,  not  because  they  were  uttered  by 
them  who  officially  proclaimed  them,  the  people  were  called 
upon  to  keep  and  to  do ;  but  they  must  be  the  words  of 
Moses,  as  well  as  uttered  by  the  men  who  sat  in  Moses' 
seat.  The  Mantle  of  Moses  without  his  truth  would  be  of 
no  value.  His  truth  you  are  to  keep,  and  you  are  to  keep 
it  notwithstanding  that  they  who  utter  it,  and  occupy  the 
place  of  Moses,  yet  by  their  deeds  do  discredit  to  the  relig- 
ion of  that  great  prophet. 


276  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

This  casts  light  upon  a  doctrine  which  you  all  have  fre- 
quently heard  of,  namely,  the  succession  of  those  who  sit  in 
the  apostles'  seats.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  can  be  traced 
any  such  lineal  succession.  These  scribes  and  Pharisees  had 
a  lineal,  exact,  and  traceable  succession.  There  was  not  a 
priest  in  the  temple  who  could  not  trace  his  lineage  up  to 
Aaron.  There  was  not  a  teacher  in  the  synagogue  who  had 
not  his  credentials  that  could  be  traced  upward  and  backward 
to  the  very  highest  authority.  But  mark  what  was  the  worth 
of  this  succession.  A  nation,  whose  priests  had  succession, 
—  whose  teachers  sat  in  Moses'  seat,  —  crucified  the  Lord  of 
glory,  and  preferred  a  thief  and  a  robber  in  his  stead  and 
l^lace.  If,  then,  men  who  had  a  real  succession,  and  a  real 
outward  commission,  thus  acted,  we  may  depend  upon  it  that 
they  who  have  but  a  pretended  one,  —  an  assumed,  and  not 
a  real  one,  —  would  not  do  better  if  the  whole  of  their  con- 
duct rested  on  the  w^orth  and  the  value  of  what  is  called 
their  apostolical  succession.  But  the  truth  is,  we  can  trace 
historically  no  such  thing  in  modern  times.  It  is  the  purest 
figment  upon  earth.  The  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Dr.  Whate- 
ly,  one  of  the  acutest  minds  living,  has  offered,  I  believe, 
1,000Z.  to  any  priest  of  any  sect  upon  earth  who  will  prove, 
within  twelve  links,  his  personal  succession  from  the  apos- 
tles. Now,  since  so  many  pretend  to  it,  it  is  a  j^ity  that  they 
should  not  enrich  themselves  with  such  a  reward  by  pro- 
ducing their  credentials,  and  showing  that  they  sit  in  Peter's 
chair,  and  have  a  legitimate  and  regularly  transmitted  suc- 
cession from  him.  But  if  those  who  boast  most  would  read 
a  little  more  ecclesiastical  history,  they  w^ould  see  the  folly 
of  such  a  pretence.  Our  position  is  not  one  horizontal  with 
the  earth,  but  vertical  from  heaven.  A  minister  is  not  made 
so  by  a  virtue  transmitted  by  one  before  him  ;  a  true 
minister  of  Christ  is  constituted  so  by  an  unction  direct  down 
from  the  presence  of  God  himself;  and  if  the  Holy  Spirit 
do  not  consecrate,  all  the  consecrations  of  Presbyteries  and 


MATTHEW   XXIII.  27-7 

Bishops,  however  useful,  orderly,  and  ctecent  in  their  place, 
go  for  absolutely  nothing.  Speak  truth,  and  you  sit  in  the 
right  seat.  Speak  apostolical  truth,  and  you  give  irresistible 
evidence  of  apostolical  succession.  If  you  prove  your  apos- 
tolical succession,  you  do  not  thereby  vindicate  as  truth  all 
that  you  teach.  Better  speak  saving  truth,  without  the 
least  pretence  to  apostolical  succession,  than  always  be  pre- 
tending to  a  succession,  the  virtues  of  which  you  show,  by 
your  living  and  sp-eaking,  you  are  wholly  a  stranger  to. 

Jesus  truly  describes  the  conduct  of  these  Pharisees  ;  and 
it  is  a  singular  fact  that  they  just  illustrate  what  has  been  the 
case  always  where  this  pretence  has  been.  It  is  singular  that 
they  who  have  pretended  to  this  authority  transmitted  to  them, 
have  generally  be€n  the  least  worthy  of  being  listened  to, 
obeyed,  or  respected ;  and  that  they  wdio  have  made  no  pre- 
tence to  the  apostolical  succession,  but  only  sought  an 
unction  from  above,  have  alone  spoken  what  was  worth 
hearing,  and  lived  lives  that  were  worth  copying.  These 
Pharisees  and  scribes,  who  had  this  succession  —  in  their 
case,  real — acted  as  we  are  told  by  our  blessed  Lord. 
"  They  bind  heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne  "  — 
their  traditions,  their  rites,  their  exaggerated  ceremonies, 
their  making  the  moral  to  be  microscopically  minute,  and 
the  ceremonial  to  be  vast,  weighty,  and  intolerable.  "  They 
bind  heavy  burdens  ;  but  they  themselves  will  not  move 
them."  "  They  make  broad  their  phylacteries."  The  phy- 
lactery was  a  robe  worn  by  the  Pharisees,  and  there  were 
pinned  to  it  pieces  of  parchment  which  were  called  rephelim, 
on  which  were  written  the  name  of  God,  and  some  frag- 
ments of  the  Law  ;  thus  putting  a  carnal  meaning  upon  what 
Moses  said,  —  "  These  words  shall  be  as  frontlets  between 
thine  eyes."  They  did  with  the  prescript  of  Moses  exactly 
what  the  Romanist  does  with  the  words  of  our  Lord ;  they 
interpreted  carnally  what  was  meant  to  be  understood  mor- 
ally and  spiritually.  The  word  ''  phylactery  "  comes  from 
24 


278  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  Greek  word  (pv/MTTO),  "  to  guard."  We  speak  of  some- 
thing that  is  prophylactic  against  an  epidemic ;  and  these 
phylacteries  were  regarded  by  the  Pharisees  as  things  that 
guarded  them  against  all  bodily  distempers,  and  against  all 
mental  aberrations. 

But  these  men,  with  all  this  assumption  of  Scripture  on 
their  robes,  are  vain  and  ambitious  ;  they  like  greetings,  all 
men  bowing  to  them  in  the  markets.  They  liked  to  be 
called  Rabbi,  to  be  great  ecclesiastical  leaders.  Patriarchs, 
cardinals,  father  of  fathers,  and  many  other  phrases  that  are 
well  known  in  modern  Christendom.  But  our  Lord  says, 
"  Be  not  ye  called  Rabbi :  for  one  is  your  Master,  even 
Christ;  and  all  ye  are  brethren.  And  call  no  man  your 
father  upon  the  earth :  for  one  is  your  Father,  which  is  in 
heaven.  Neither  be  ye  called  masters :  for  one  is  your  Mas- 
ter, even  Christ."  Now,  if  we  were  to  interpret  this  in  the 
letter,  we  should  just  do  what  the  Pharisees  did  with  the 
prescript  of  Moses,  fall  into  a  gross,  carnal,  and  material  error. 
It  is  plainly  to  be  interpreted  in  the  spirit ;  and  it  implies  that 
no  man  is  to  look  up  to  any  man,  be  he  presbyter,  bishop, 
cardinal,  or  pope,  as  if,  because  of  occupying  that  office,  he 
had  power  to  teach  what  is  absolute  and  infallible  truth.  If 
you  were  to  take  the  words  literally,  you  would  be  landed  in 
absurdity.  The  servant  does  call  his  master,  Master,  and  his 
mistress,  Mistress ;  the  son  does  call  his  father,  Father.  It  is 
obvious,  then,  from  our  Lord's  example,  that  this  is  not  to 
be  taken  in  its  strict,  literal  meaning,  because  it  would  land 
us  in  an  absurdity  analogous  to  that  of  the  Pharisees  through 
taking  Moses'  words  literally.  The  passage  means  that  we 
are  to  take  no  man's  judgment  as  infallible,  if  it  contradicts 
what  is  in  the  law  and  the  testimony.  If  a  Pharisee  in 
Moses'  seat,  —  if  a  Pope  from  the  Vatican,  —  if  a  Cardinal 
from  Rome,  —  if  an  angel  from  heaven,  were  to  preach  to 
you  any  other  Gospel  than  that  which  is  in  the  Bible,  do 
not  re«^,ognize  him  as  Rabbi  —  treat  his  authority  with  indif- 


MATTHEW    XXIII.  279 

ference.  "  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony  ;  if  they  speak 
not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
them."  Our  Lord  is  speaking  of  rehgious  matters,  because 
the  very  same  Bible  says,  "  Honor  the  king "  — "  render 
honor  to  whom  honor  is  due  ;  tribute  to  whom  tribute." 
Therefore,  it  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  spiritual  sense  which 
I  have  explained. 

In  the  13th  verse  our  Lord  gives  an  explanation  of  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Peter  received  these  keys. 
Some  say,  that  means  that  what  Peter's  alleged  successors 
pronounce  upon  me  has  its  echo  in  heaven,  and  that  what- 
ever they  bind  upon  me  God  will  bind  in  heaven ;  in  this 
sense,  that  their  pardon  God  recognizes,  and  their  refusal  to 
pardon  God  will  acquiesce  in.  Now  it  does  seem  to  me, 
that  the  meaning  of  the  keys  that  were  given  to  Peter  is  to 
open,  and  the  meaning  of  this  is  thus  explained.  "  Ye  shut 
up  the  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men."  How  did  they 
shut?  By  preaching  wrong  doctrine.  And  they  would 
open  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  preaching  true  and  right 
doctrine,  and  by  living  pure  and  holy  lives.  It  is  plain,  then, 
that  to  have  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  simply 
to  have  a  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature. 

He  then  describes,  in  the  14th  verse,  what  it  seems  as  if 
the  priests  of  mediaeval  Europe  had  transferred  to  their 
practice.  Nothing  can  be  so  plain  a  portrait  of  what  was 
done  during  that  dark  eclipse  of  reason  and  revelation  to- 
gether, as  what  is  stated  herf.  "  Ye  devour  widows" 
houses,  and  for  a  pretence  make  long  prayer :  therefore,  y€ 
shall  receive  the  greater  condemnation."  I  fear,  if  those 
cathedrals  that  we  admire  so  much  could  be  traced  to  their 
origin,  it  would  be  found  that  the  funds  by  which  they  were 
built  were  raised  by  the  most  unhallowed  means  and  the 
most  nefarious  practices.  It  would  be  fo'ind  that  those  insti- 
tutions raised  in  mediteval  Europe,  were  the  result  of  what 


280  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

recent  lawsuits  have  shown  the  Romanists  can  do  still,— 
persuading  men  in  the  moment  of  weakness  to  leave  money 
behind  them  for  the  benefit  of  priests,  that  their  souls  may 
be  prayed  out  of  purgatory.  How  thankful  should  we  be 
for  the  Statutes  of  Mortmain,  although  it  has  been  found 
that  no  laws  will  ever  be  able  to  restrain  the  wonderful  tal- 
ent and  subtlety  of  Jesuit  priests. 

The  Church  of  Rome  can  laugh  at  all  the  laws  that 
nations  can  make.  Slje  will  turn  all  to  her  own  pur^^oses ; 
and  she  is  becoming  every  day  the  richest  and  the  most 
powerful  corporation  in  Christendom.  And  even  in  this 
country,  where  you  talk  of  the  riches  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  the  small  endowment  of  the  Church  of  Scot 
land,  the  Church  of  Rome  is  one  of  the  richest  corporations 
in  it.  This  was  predicted  long  ago  ;  and  a  few  more  years 
will  show  how  literally  fulfilled  are  the  predictions  and  alle- 
gations made  ujTon  the  subject. 

Then  He  speaks  of  their  evasion  of  oaths.  "  Whosoever 
shall  swear  by  the  temple,  it  is  nothing;  but  whosoever 
shall  swear  by  the  gold  of  the  temple,  he  is  a  debtor."  If 
you  wish  to  see  this  illustrated,  read  the  theology  of  Dens, 
or  of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  where  you  will  find  this  eva- 
sion of  oaths,  and  this  wonderful  evasive  treatment  of  God's 
moral  law,  carried  out  with  consummate  talent,  and  with 
perfectly  Satanic  dexterity,  showing  how  possible  it  is  to 
have  an  angel's  wisdom  combined  with  a  fiend's  wickedness. 
Why,  in  that  very  theology  it  is  shown  that  when  it  suits 
the  interest  of  the  church,  *he  obligation  of  keeping  an  oath 
may  be  dispensed  with :  it  may  be  rendered  null,  it  may  be 
broken.  In  fact,  the  most  talented  part  of  the  theology  of 
Alphonsus  Liguori  consists  in  showing  how  men  can  break 
oaths  in  the  cleverest  way ;  and  it  is  told  you  frankly  that 
any  oath  that  is  against  the  good  of  the  church,  of  which 
the  priest  is  the  judge,  is  null  and  void  ab  initio.  So  that 
if  a  Roman  Catholic  were  to  keep  such  an  oath,  I  should 


MATTHEW   XXIII.  281 

say,  "  It  is  because  you  are  more  of  an  Englishman  than  of 
a  Roman  Catholic ; "  but  if  he  brake  it,  I  should  say,  "  I 
pity  you  for  your  principles,  but  I  respect  you  for  carrying 
them  out."  These  things  I  am  not  stating  at  second  hand, 
but  from  authority  which  they  have  been  challenged  to 
me€t,  and  will  not,  because  if  they  were  it  would  expose  so 
completely  the  wickedness  of  that  system,  that  I  believe 
the  nation  would  be  tempted  to  rise  up  against  it,  and  say, 
"We  can  barely  tolerate  it."  Our  Lord  then  shows  how 
they  gave  tithe  of  mint  and  anise  and  cumin  plants, — 
whilst  they  omitted  "  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judg- 
ment, mercy,  and  faith." 

In  the  24th  verse  there  is  a  mistranslation  that  has  been 
transferred  to  every  edition  of  the  New  Testament :  "  Ye 
blind  guides,  which  strain  at  a  gnat."  It  should  be,  and  I 
think  it  must  have  been  in  the  original  edition  of  1611, 
"strain  out  a  gnat,  and  swallow  a  camel."  Just  suppose 
you  were  drinking  wine,  and  a  gnat  got  into  it,  you  would 
strain  the  gnat  out;  and  our  Lord  says,  "  You  are  so  very 
particular,  that  if  you  were  drinking  a  glass  of  wine  you 
would  strain  out  a  gnat ;  but  on  other  occasions  you  will  do 
a  wickedness  that  is  as  great  as  swallowing  a  camel :  that 
is,  if  there  is  an  omission  in  paying  tithe  of  mint  and  anise 
and  cumin,  you  are  most  excited,  and  would  seem  to  be 
angels  of  heaven,  so  shocked  are  you  that  the  law  should  be 
broken  even  in  the  most  minute  jot ;  but  crimes,  provided 
they  be  committed  by  a  Pharisee,  are  in  your  mind  so  triv- 
ial, that  of  you  it  is  strictly  true,  that  while  you  strain  out  a 
gnat,  you  swallow  a  camel." 

He  then  pronounces  more  woes  upon  them.  "  Ye  are 
like  unto  whited  sepulchres,  beautiful  of  marble  w'thout, 
but  all  corruption  within."  And  again,  "  Ye  build  the 
tombs  of  the  prophets,"  as  much  as  to  say.  We  could  not 
have  been  guilty  of  the  wickedness  of  those  who  preceded 
us ;  whereas  you  are  preparing  yourselves  to  kill  "  proph- 
24* 


282  sciiirTURE  readings. 

ets,  and  wise  men,  and  scribes,  some  of  whom  ye  will  kill 
and  crucify,  and  some  ye  will  scourge  in  your  synagogues, 
and  persecute  them  from  city  to  city :  that  upon  you  may 
come  all  the  vengeance  that  has  been  accumulating  in  the 
past,  and  that  will  burst  like  a  thundercloud  upon  you,  and 
upon  your  capital,  and  thoroughly  overwhelm  it."  Here, 
again,  the  picture  is  anticipatory  of  the  middle  ages :  for 
what  was  done  then?  Just  what  has  been  recently  done  in 
Florence.  But  that  deed  shall  be  heard  in  reverberations 
throughout  Christendom.  It  is  the  greatest  blunder  that 
the  Papacy  ever  perpetrated ;  and  day  by  day,  while  we 
lament  the  expense  of  it,  we  rejoice  that  that  system  is  de- 
veloping itself  more  and  more.  It  is  a  most  remarkable 
fact  premonitory  of  its  fall,  that  the  charges  which  in  the  past 
we  made  against  that  system  are  now  openly  avowed.  Dr. 
Newman  says  most  candidly,  "  Why  do  you  not  persecute 
us  in  England  ?  Because  you  dare  not.  And  why  do  we 
persecute  you  in  Rome?  Because  we  have  the  power."  Pie 
does  not  deny  the  persecution  of  the  Papacy.  And  in  a 
history  of  England,  written  for  youths  belonging  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  it  is  said  in  one  of  the  chapters 
that  queen  Mary  did  perfectly  right  in  burning  and  execut- 
ing the  heretics,  or  Protestants  of  that  day,  since  they  were 
disturbers  of  the  common  weal.  All  this  is  perfectly  con- 
sistent, and  one  rejoices  that  that  church  is  every  day  more 
and  more  manifesting  herself;  so  that  no  one  willhave  any 
doubt  about  her  principles.  What  we  were  denounced  as 
prophets  of  evil  for  stating  ten  years  ago,  that  church  is 
avowing  every  day.  If  you  would  only  read  the  Canon 
Law,  which  the  Pope  has  appointed  a  cardinal  to  carry  out 
here,  you  would  find  that  the  Church  of  Rome  is  not  only 
pledged,  but  sworn  to  carry  into  practice  principles  the 
most  atrocious,  and  the  most  persecuting,  that  you  can  pos- 
sibly conceive  ;  and  I  believe  the  question  will  one  day  b<; 
mooted  in   Enghiud,  whether  a  church  that  tolerates  none 


MATTHEAV    XXIII.  283 

itself  shall  be  tolerated  at  all.  But  this  chapter  shows  how 
the  principles  carried  out  by  the  traditionists  of  old  have 
been  illustrated  by  all  the  traditionists  of  modern  times. 

Then  He  speaks  in  one  of  those  touches  so  rich  in 
eloquence,  so  evidently  indicative  that  it  was  with  a  breaking 
heart  that  he  condemned  any,  and  that  he  had  an  open  heart 
to  welcome  all  that  would :  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  my 
city,  my  country,  the  glory  of  lands,  thou  that  killest  the 
prophets  and  stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how 
often  —  heaven  can  remember,  and  earth  will  attest  — 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  " 
What  mercy !  What  a  reception !  What  guilt  in  these 
words,  "  Ye  would  not !  "  Jerusalem  is  now  a  gigantic  ruin  ; 
the  land  is  left  unto  it  desolate ;  and  it  will  not  be  restored 
until  its  people  shout  amidst  its  hills  and  valleys,  "  Blessed 
is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

He  came  near  to  Jerusalem  geographically;  he  comes 
near  to  every  city  in  Christendom,  and  to  every  individual 
in  the  midst  of  it,  in  his  providence,  by  the  ministry  of  the 
Gospel,  and  by  his  Holy  Spirit ;  and  such  he  beseeches  with 
an  earnestness  as  great  and  as  real  as  that  with  which  he 
spake  to  Jerusalem,  "  Oh !  heed  thou  the  things  that 
belong  to  thy  peace,  before  they  are  for  ever  hid  from  thine 
eyes ! " 

He  tells  us  in  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Luke,  that  she 
had  not  given  heed  to  the  things  that  belonged  to  her  peace. 
The  word  "  Jerusalem  "  means,  translated  into  English,  "  the 
vision  of  peace,"  Teru-salem.  Therefore,  when  Jesus  says, 
"  If  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in  tliis  thy  day, 
the  things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace,"  it  is  as  if  he  had 
said,  —  "Thou  art  called  by  a  beautiful  name,  the  Vision 
of  Peace.  0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  vision  of  peace,  as 
once  thou  wert,  would  that  thou  didst  know"*and  feel  now 
the  things  that  are  the  elements,  the  springs,  and  sources  of 


284  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

peace !  but  you  have  lost  your  opportunity ;  your  sun  sets 
behind  the  western  hills,  you  will  be  laid  desert,  the  plough- 
share shall  upheave  all  your  deep  furrows,  and  the  armies 
of  Titus  and  Vespasian  shall  lay  waste  all  your  ancient 
magnificence  ;  and  you  shall  not  be  rebuilt  until  your  chil- 
dren, under  the  inspiration  of  Almighty  grace,  shall  say, 
Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  In 
other  words,  it  is  possible  to  have  a  name  to  live  by  whilst 
we  are  dead.  It  is  possible  to  bear  the  noblest  name,  but  in 
our  deeds  and  life  to  deny  and  to  disclaim  it.  The  altar  may 
stand,  but  without  its  glory.  The  temple  may  remain,  but 
without  its  vision.  The  high-priest  may  officially  survive, 
but  the  Urim  and  the  Thummim,  the  lights  and  perfections, 
may  be  quenched  in  judgment  for  his  great  unfaithful- 
ness. 

There  are,  we  are  told  here,  things  that  belong  to  peace. 
In  other  words,  there  cannot  be  peace  unless  there  be  the 
knowledge  of  the  roots  of  that  peace,  called  here  the  things 
that  belong  to  it.  These  things  are,  pardon  of  sin,  truth, 
holiness,  righteousness.  If  these  be  not  in  a  nation,  or  in  a 
capital,  it  may  have  a  peace,  or  it  may  be  called  Jerusalem, 
the  vision  of  peace,  but  its  peace  is  not  lasting.  And  if 
these  roots,  holiness  and  truth,  be  not  in  an  individual's 
heart,  he  has  no  peace.  Philosophy  may  create  a  calm 
within  the  bosom ;  argument  may  reason  the  passions  into 
quiet ;  but  that  calm  will  soon  be  broken,  and  that  quiet  will 
soon  be  disturbed.  The  affections  of  man  must  be  sanctified, 
not  stifled,  in  order  that  there  may  prevail  within  the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  first  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  then  he  is  the  Comforter.  The  wisdom  tha^ 
is  from  above  is  first  pure,  then  it  is  peaceable.  The 
superstructure  of  lasting  peace  must  rest  on  a  founda- 
tion of  moral  and  Scriptural  truth ;  and  any  peace  in  a 
nation,  a  city,  a  church,  a  capital,  that  does  not  spring  from 
the  roots  :f  truth,  is  a  calm  which  the  next  storm  will  break,  a 


MATTHEW   XXIII.  285 

quiet  which  the  next  invasion  will  disturb  ;  it  is  not  a  peace 
with  which  a  stranger  cannot  intermeddle,  and  which  passeth 
not  away. 

The  language  of  this  part  of  the  chapter  is  scarcely  less 
touching,  perhaps  more  so,  than  the  passage  analogous  to  it 
in  the  Gospel  according  to  St,  Luke.  The  allusion  is  to  the 
habits  and  instincts  of  birds.  I  have  seen  a  young  robin  fall 
from  its  nest,  and  lie  wounded  and  helpless  on  the  ground ; 
and  I  have  seen  the  mother  go  three,  four,  twenty  times  a  day 
to  feed  it,  if  peradventure  the  maternal  feeding  might  restore 
it  to  its  strength.  Some  of  the  instincts  of  birds  are  worthy 
of  the  study  of  a  Christian ;  and  because  we  are  Christians, 
we  must  not  shut  our  eyes  to  the  bright  world  that  is  around 
us ;  for  in  the  instincts  of  birds,  in  the  habits  of  bees,  in  the 
peculiarities  of  all  created  things,  in  the  structure  of  minerals, 
in  the  petals,  fragrance,  habits,  and  climates  of  flowers,  there 
is  an  immensity  of  Divine  teaching.  Only  it  needs  nature's 
book  to  be  read  in  the  splendor  in  which  it  was  originally 
written ;  and  when  a  Christian's  eye  reads  that  book,  its 
page  is  full  of  deep,  significant,  and  precious  meaning.  And 
a  day  will  come  when  we  skali  look  upon  the  book  of  crea- 
tion just  as  we  now  look  upon  the  Book  of  Revelation ; 
when  it  shall  undergo  its  second  baptism,  be  restored  to  its 
first  beauty  and  magnificence,  and  be  a  meet  companion  to 
that  Book  which  contains  the  prophecy  of  its  restoration, 
and  which  will  be  the  study,  the  delight,  and  the  joy  of  the 
redeemed  in  heaven  while  the  years  of  eternity  roll  on,  — 
God's  holy  Word.  Here  the  lesson  that  our  Lord  draws  is 
from  the  habits  of  the  hen.  We  must  all  have  noticed,  that 
when  the  storm  begins  to  threaten,  or  the  sky  is  blackened 
with  clouds,  or  a  stranger,  suspected  by  the  strong  instinct  of 
the  maternal  hen  to  be  a  foe,  comes  near  her  helpless  and 
weak  brood,  she  gives  the  signal,  and  they  all  crouch  beneath 
her  warm  wing,  and  he  who  will  destroy  the  brood,  must 
first  destroy  the  life  of  the  mother  bird  herself.     So  says 


286  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Jesus,  "I  give  you,  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  the  signal  of 
approaching  ruin.  I  have  warned  you  that  the  thunder 
of  the  armies  of  Rome  is  already  in  your  borders.  I 
have  warned  you  that  the  vulture  of  Rome  has  poised 
its  wings,  and  is  hovering  over  you,  ready  to  descend, 
and  number  you  with  the  dead.  In  the  prospect  of  so  dread 
a  visitation,  seeing  the  cloud  that  is  above  ready  to  burst  in 
judgment,  seeing  the  Roman  eagle  that  is  coming  near  you, 
ready  to  descend  and  make  you  his  prey,  I  have  entreated 
and  implored  you  with  all  the  earnestness  of  humanity,  with 
all  the  deep  sympathies  of  God,  to  crowd  around  me,  and  to 
seek  under  my  outspread  wing  mercy  to  forgive  you,  and 
righteousness  to  cover  you  ;  and  as  sure  as  you  accept  it,  so 
sure  when  the  judgment  comes,  Pella,  the  distant  village, 
will  protect  you  from  the  approaching  ruin,  and  heaven,  the 
distant  but  the  certain  home,,  will  receive  your  happy  spirits 
as  those  who  have  been  found  in  Jesus,  and  have  been 
accepted  in  his  name.  But  —  "  awful  close  of  so  touching 
an  appeal !  —  "  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  chickens  show 
an  instinct  more  true  than  your  logic ;  for  they  accept  the 
signal  of  their  parent,  and  croud*  beneath  her  wing,  —  you 
repudiate  the  warning  of  your  Lord.  Your  blood  is  upon 
your  own  heads." 

But  I  do  not  pause  to  view  this  as  especially  connected 
with  Jerusalem  ;  though  it  is  well  to  notice  that  even  if 
Jerusalem  had  had  ten  righteous  men  in  it,  God  probably 
would  have  spared  it ;  at  least,  if  we  cannot  say  so  of  Jeru- 
salem, we  know  it  was  so  with  Sodom,  that  if  there  had 
been  ten  righteous  men  in  it,  God  would  have  saved  it. 
And  we  may  depend  upon  this,  that  that  truth  so  often  indi- 
cated in  Scripture  teaches  us  that  it  is  not  armies,  nor 
navies,  nor  battlements,  nor  bulwarks,  nor  brave  hearts,  nor 
many  sabres,  that  will  save  and  protect  our  country.  It  is 
right  that  these  things  should  be ;  and  he  would  be  a  fanatic 
or  a  traitor  who  would  oppose  these  things  when  required  j 


MATTHEW   XXIIT.  287 

but  at  the  same  time  we  must  ever  take  care,  whilst  our 
Government  proceeds  to  make  preparations  to  defend  us 
from  without,  —  and  they  do  well,  —  that  our  missionaries, 
our  readers,  and  our  ministers  are  trying  to  defend  us  yet 
more  powerfully  within,  by  multiplying,  by  God's  grace,  the 
pious,  the  holy,  and  the  spiritually  minded,  who,  when  the 
crisis  comes,  are  seen  by  God,  and  for  their  sake  the  city 
and  the  nation  are  preserved. 

But,  my  dear  friends,  we  learn  lessons  from  this  appeal 
of  Jesus  that  are  personally  useful  to  us  all.  All  who  have 
not  fled  by  faith  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  pardon,  for 
justification,  and  acceptance  before  God,  are  at  this  moment 
exposed  to  great  and  imminent  danger.  A  foe  far  more 
terrible  than  Titus  or  Vespasian  draws  near  to  us,  and  digs 
trenches  about  us  every  day.  A  judgment  still  more  ter- 
rific than  the  swords,  the  spears,  and  the  arrows  of  imperial 
Rome,  approaches  us.  The  eagles  of  Rome,  and  all  her 
chivalry  and  ensigns,  are  among  the  things  that  were ;  but 
God's  law  thundering  anguish,  tribulation,  and  wrath  against 
every  soul  that  is  out  of  Christ;  God's  justice,  hoHness, 
and  truth,  that  will  not,  and  (reverently  be  it  spoken)  can- 
not admit  to  heaven  or  save  from  hell  a  single  soul  that  has 
not  fled  to  Christ's  blood  for  atonement  and  acceptance,  are 
still  real  things  and  present  things ;  and  until  you  have  fled 
under  the  shelter  of  Christ's  outspread  mercy  and  forgive- 
ness by  an  act  of  personal,  living,  real  faith,  and  confidence 
in  him,  you  are  shelterless,  and  exposed  to  death  spiritual, 
death  eternal.  How  shall  you  meet  a  law  that  you  have 
broken  ?  How  shall  you  face  a  justice  that  you  have  out- 
raged ?  How  can  you  deal  with  the  great  God  ?  How  can 
you  meet  him  at  the  judgment-seat?  Unless  there  be  some 
great  remedial  provision,  which  we  have  each  personally 
for  himself  availed  ourselves  of,  how  is  it  possible  that  you 
or  I  can  stand  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ  ? 

From  Christ's  appeal  to  Jerusalem  let  us  notice,  there  is 


288  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

perfect  safety  in  Christ,  and  in  him  alone.  I  know  that 
when  I  uj^e  that  plirase,  "  in  Christ,"  some  are  perplexed  as 
to  what  it  can  mean,  or  as  to  how  one  can  be  in  Christ.  It 
is  just  the  heart  and  the  mind  believing  what  Christ  is  set 
forth  to  be,  and  at  the  same  time  trusting  in  him  in  that 
character  in  which  he  is  set  forth.  To  believe  in  Christ  is 
just  to  say,  "  I  am  ready  to  depart,  and  to  appear  at  the 
judgment-seat,  perfectly  satisfied  that  there  is  nothing 
there  to  alarm  me.  Why?  Not  because  I  am  spotless, 
or  sinless,  but  because  my  trust  is  in  Him  whom  God 
hath  set  forth  for  this  specific  purpose,  and  relying  upon 
whom,  and  under  whose  outspread  wing,  I  am  sure  that 
there  is  no  condemnation,  and  that  nothing  shall  be  able  to 
separate  me  from  God's  love  which  is  in  him.  No  deluge 
can  sweep  me  from  him;  no  hostile  blow  can  smite  me." 
"  Who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?  It 
is  God  that  justifieth.  AVho  is  he  that  condemneth?  It  is 
Christ  that  died, -yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again.  I  am," 
says  the  apostle,  not  upon  slight  grounds,  but  upon  personal 
experience  and  heavenly  inspiration  —  "I  am  persuaded 
that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities, 
nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord."  That  power  that  can  spiritually  and  everlast- 
ingly injure  a  believer,  must  first  strike  through  Omnipo- 
tence itself.  The  chicken  could  only  be  smitten  by  pierc- 
ing the  outspread  wing  of  the  mother  bird ;  the  believer  can 
only  be  scathed  by  destroying  the  everlasting  God.  What 
safety  is  his  who  is  in  Christ,  around  whom  are  the  everlast- 
ing arms,  beside  whom,  are  encamped  all  the  angels  of  the 
skies,  to  whom  all  things  minister  —  the  very  universe 
itself  at  peace  with  that  man  who  is  at  peace  with  God  in 
Jesus  Christ  his  Lord  ! 

In  the  third  place,  let  us   learn  from  this  passage  that 


MATTHEW   XXIII.  289 

Jesus  is  waiting  and  willing  to  receive  the  worst,  the  oldest, 
the  greatest,  the  guiltiest  of  you  all.  Some  have  sins  that 
are  like  crimson,  others  like  purple  ;  some  have  sinned 
against  light,  and  some  have  sinned  against  love ;  and  all 
of  us  feel  that  we  have  not  loved  God  with  all  our  heart, 
(why,  the  very  utterance  of  the  words  conveys  rebuke,)  and 
with  all  our  strength;  we  know  that  we  have  loved  the 
creature  in  some  shape  more  than  the  Creator ;  we  know 
that  Ave  have  thought  infinitely  more,  and  far  more  intense- 
ly, about  some  created  thing,  than  ever  we  have  thought 
about  God ;  we  know  that  we  have  trimmed  our  conduct 
and  shaped  our  actions  with  a  view  to  exclude  God  alto- 
gether; we  know  that  we  have  left  undone  many  things 
that  we  ought  to  have  done,  and  that  we  have  done  many 
things  that  we  ought  not  to  have  done.  But  be  you,  like 
Paul,  the  very  chiefest  of  sinners,  or,  like  Paul,  the  very 
least  of  saints,  or,  like  Jerusalem,  the  blood  of  prophets 
and  of  righteous  men  staining  your  robes,  Christ  waits,  and 
asks  you  only  to  trust  him,  and  then  under  a  sense  of  the 
magnitude  of  his  goodness  to  go  forth  and  act  accordingly. 
"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will-  give  you  rest."  And  even  after  he  had  de- 
nounced the  rulers  and  chief  priests  of  Jerusalem,  whose 
crimes  provoked  these  unsparing  denunciations,  he  could  not 
close  his  catalogue  of  woes  without  one  last  touching  appeal 
to  Jerusalem,  as,  shall  I  say  ?  a  man ;  as,  shall  I  also  say  ? 
a  patriot;  as  still  more  a  Saviour,  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  — "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the 
prophets,  and  stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as 
a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye 
would  not ! "  And  as  if  that  love  to  Jerusalem  were 
quenchless  as  his  own  great  life,  even  after  he  had  risen 
from  the  dead,  ere  he  was  seated  at  the  right-hand  of  God, 
he  made  provision  that  to  this  guilty  and  wicked  capital  the 
25 


290  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

first  and  choicest  offer  of  his  mercy  should  be  made:  for 
he  said,  "  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to 
suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day ;  and  that 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his 
name  among  all  nations,"  not  passing  by  Jerusalem,  but 
"  beginning  at  Jerusalem."  What  a  testimony  is  here,  that 
whilst  none  may  presume,  lest,  like  the  Pharisees,  they 
treasure  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  oh,  none,  none, 
none,  may  despair ;  for  if  it  were  the  heart's  last  throb, 
and  the  heart's  last  gasp,  and  upon  the  very  brink  of  the 
grave,  even  there  there  is  pardon,  and  mercy,  and  complete 
forgiveness  for  all  —  all  that  will.  I  know  nothing  so  rich 
in  mercy,  so  full  of  encouragement  to  the  worst,  as  this 
blessed  Gospel.  And  then,  I  know  no  man  so  guilty  as  the 
man  who  hears  what  I  am  saying  this  night,  and  hears  it 
next  Sunday,  and  next  Sunday,  just  as  the  wind  is  heard 
as  it  passes  through  a  ruin,  or  an  archway,  making  a  mo- 
mentary sound,  and  then  lost  in  everlasting  silence. 

My  dear  friends,  do  you  believe  these  truths  ?  Are  they 
any  thing  to  you  ?  I  am  not  describing  something  that 
relates  to  the  sun,  to  Saturn,  or  the  fixed  stars ;  but  I  am 
speaking  of  what  relates  to  you ;  for  unto  you,  as  really,  as 
fresh,  as  when  the  words  were  addressed  to  Jerusalem, 
Jesus  says,  —  "  O  my  people,  how  often,  by  my  ministry, 
in  my  providence,  by  your  sicknesses,  your  sorrows,  your 
losses,  have  I  come  near  to  you,  and  asked  you  to  come 
under  my  wings,  not  for  my  benefit,  but  for  your  good, 
and  (oh,  terrible  degeneracy  of  the  human  heart!)  ye 
would  not ! " 

This  leads  me  again  to  say,  from  the  language  applied  to 
Jerusalem,  "  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children 
together,"  that  Jesus  often  speaks  to  us,  often  would  also 
gather  us  together.  It  is  not  true  that  Jesus  was,  and  that 
he  is  not.  The  Bible  is  not  a  Book  written  for  yesterday, 
and  obsolete  to-day;  but  it  is  a  Book  that  anticipates  all 


MATTHEW   XXIII.  Ml 

ages,  that  has  a  prescription  for  all  sins,  and  a  welcome  for 
all  that  will ;  and  Jesus  now  speaks  to  you,  if  you  can  only 
realize  it,  as  truly,  if  not  as  audibly,  as  he  ever  spake  to 
Jerusalem  itself.  He  speaks  to  you  in  every  providential 
visitation,  each  of  which  is  a  missionary  and  an  ambassador 
from  the  skies.  He  speaks  to  you  from  the  silent  graves  of 
your  dead,  and  from  the  sick-beds  of  your  living.  He 
speaks  to  you  in  every  sorrow  that  saturates  the  heart,  and 
every  ache,  ill,  and  pain  that  penetrates  the  body.  He 
speaks  to  you  in  all  your  joys  and  your  sorrows,  in  all  your 
trials,  your  fears,  your  doubts,  your  losses,  your  crosses. 
He  speaks  to  you  from  the  silent  stars  that,  like  the  eyes  of 
God's  omniscience,  are  ever  looking  on  you  ;  and  he  speaks 
to  you  from  the  beautiful  flowers  that  come  from  the  earth, 
as  if  to  testify  whose  they  are,  and  from  whom  they  come ; 
and  he  speaks  to  you  in  all  the  seasons  of  the  year,  in  all 
the  changes  of  the  day ;  and  he  speaks  to  you  from  every 
pulpit,  and  from  every  text  of  the  Bible,  "  How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  you!  Again,  I  would  gather  you 
stilL"  Oh  !  do  not  answer  with  your  hearts  and  lives,  "We 
will  not." 

What  is  every  minister  of  the  Gospel?  If  a  true  one,  he 
is  an  ambassador  from  Christ ;  he  is  the  eclio  of  Christ's 
word ;  he  takes  the  original  key-note,  which  is  the  text,  and 
he  makes  that  key-note  speak  in  the  manifold  reverberations 
of  truth,  earnestness,  love,  and  peace.  And  what  is  God's 
holy  Sabbath  ?  It  is  a  day  fresh  from  the  everlasting  rest, 
bearing  the  signature  of  God,  and  carrying  the  olive-branch 
in  its  hand.  And  what  is  every  sanctuary  into  which  you 
enter?  A  sacred  spot  to  repeat  the  words  transmitted 
along  the  ages,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth 
peace,  good-will  toward  men." 

In  all  these  ways,  from  all  these  points,  by  all  these  instru- 
ments, oracles,  and  embassies,  God  speaks  to  you,  saying,  "  I 
would  gather  you."     Let  not  your  response  be  that  which 


292  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Jerusalem  gave,  "  We  will  not."  But,  alas !  while  I  trust 
many  of  you  would  not  say  so,  and  do  not  feel  so,  it  is  not 
uncharitable,  because  truth  never  can  be  uncharitable,  to 
say  that  vast  multitudes  of  professing  Christendom  are  stran- 
gers to  Christ  altogether.  They  will  not  believe,  they  will 
not  come.  Why  ?  Because  they  are  not  yet  weary  of 
their  bondage ;  they  are  not  yet  sick  of  feeding  upon  the 
husks  of  the  Prodigal  that  swine  do  eat ;  they  are  not  yet 
ashamed  of  their  chains  ;  they  are  not  yet  exhausted  in  try- 
ing to  dig  out  cisterns  in  the  world,  until,  after  all  their 
days  and  labor  are  spent,  they  find  that  they  are  cisterns 
that  can  hold  no  water.  When  we  speak  to  them,  one  goes 
to  his  farm,  and  another  to  his  merchandise,  and  another 
says,  "  We  will  hear  thee  on  some  other  occasion."  When 
we  speak  to  others,  they  say,  "  There  is  no  fear,  there  is  no 
judgment,  there  is  no  Satan,  there  is  no  sin.  We  cannot 
believe  that  we  are  under  God's  curse."  As  it  was  in  the 
days  of  Noah,  they  were  eating,  drinking,  marrying,  and 
giving  in  marriage,  so  shall  it  be  in  these  last  days  into 
which  we  are  entering,  and  which  are  the  deepening  twilight 
that  precedes  the  advent  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  the  ever- 
lasting morn. 

Let  me  state,  too,  that  the  only  reason  why  Jerusalem 
was  not  saved,  and  the  only  reason  why  any  reject  the  Gos- 
pel, was  and  is  what  I  have  often  repeated,  their  unwilling- 
ness. If  there  had  been  any  other  reason  of  Jerusalem's 
refusal  to  be  saved,  our  Lord  would  have  told  it.  The  reason 
why  it  would  not  be  saved  is  found  in  these  words  —  not 
"  ye  could  not,"  but  "ye  would  not."  There  was  nothing 
that  prevented  you,  but  you  were  not  willing  to  be  saved. 
And,  my  dear  friends,  the  same  is  the  reason  now.  There 
is  no  reason  out  of  any  creature  in  this  assembly  why  that 
creature  may  not  be  saved  this  very  nigiit.  If  there  be  any 
reason  or  impediment  at  all,  it  is  within  the  man,  it  is  not 
without  him.     It  lies  in  his  unwillingness  to  be  what  Christ 


MATTHEW   XXIII.  293 

says  he  must  humble  himself  to  be  —  a  consciously  ruined 
sinner,  saveable  and  saved  only  by  free,  sovereign,  and  un- 
merited grac€.  We  must  all  in  this  matter,  the  noblest  and 
the  lowliest,  lie  down  upon  the  same  dead  level ;  and  we 
must  all,  the  highest  and  the  humblest,  seek  to  be  saved  by 
the  same  precious  blood ;  and  we  must  all  of  us,  whether 
high  or  humble,  lofty  or  lowly,  personally,  as  a  personal  act 
transacted  in  the  soul's  secret,  sequestered,  and  most  solemn 
place,  enter  into  covenant  with  God  in  Christ ;  and  whilst 
we  accept  pardon,  full,  complete,  irreversible,  for  all  our 
sins,  we  must  accept  also  immediately  after  it  his  yoke,  which 
is  easy,  and  his  burden,  which  is  light.  But  (oh,  wondrous 
phenomenon  !)  the  Judge  offers  pardon,  and  the  criminal 
flings  it  back  in  his  face  ;  the  King  offers  reconciliation,  and 
the  rebel  spurns  it  away,  and  will  have  none  of  it. 

One  reason,  perhaps,  why  so  many  are  unwilling  is,  not 
that  they  are  averse  to  being  happy,  but  because  every  one 
has  his  own  prescription  for  it,  and  God  gives  but  one. 
What  explains  the  rush  along  our  streets  every  day  ?  What 
explains  anxiety,  toil,  trouble,  striving,  all  that  characterizes 
the  great  streams  that  pour  every  day  along  our  streets  ?  They 
are  all  in  quest  of  happiness ;  they  are  all  wanting  to  be 
happy ;  but  then,  each  is  taking  his  own  way.  Now,  the 
Bible  says,  the  secret  of  our  unhappiness  is  a  disease  — 
called  sin  ;  and  that  there  is  no  getting  happiness  except  by 
submitting  to  have  that  sin  freely  pardoned  by  Christ,  and 
its  power,  roots,  and  poison  utterly  extracted  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  If,  therefore,  you  will  be 
successfully  happy,  you  must  take  Christ's  way,  or  you  never 
can  be  happy  at  all.  Try  your  own  way — and  even  if 
you  fail,  it  is  a  blessed  thought  that  God  will  take  the  very 
dregs  of  life  —  but  the  man  who  knows  the  truth,  and  sets 
out  resisting  it  because  he  thinks  that  one  day  he  may  be 
able  to  believe  and  accept  it,  has  lost  all  correct  notions  of 
the  Gospel,  and  only  tempts  and  provokes  God.  But  if 
25* 


294  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

you  say,  "I  cannot  trust  the  Saviour,"  —  hoAV  is  that? 
What  would  you  think  of  that  man  who  should  say,  "  I 
cannot  be  loyal  to  my  sovereign,  because  I  detest  that 
sovereign  ?  "  Would  that  be  an  excuse  ?  Or  what  would 
you  think  of  that  man  who  should  say,  "  Such  is  my 
antipathy  to  honesty,  that  I  must  be  a  thief?"  Such  is  no 
excuse.  Your  inability  is  not  physical,  it  is  purely  moral ; 
and  it  resolves  itself  into  what  I  have  said  before,  your  un- 
willingness. Something  (and  you  yourselves  know  it)  in 
your  heart,  or  in  your  conscience,  stands  between  you  and 
complete  surrender  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  What  that  is 
I  do  not  know.  You  dare  not  be  utterly  worldly,  you  will 
not  be  wholly  Christian  ;  you  attempt  what  seems  to  be  an 
intermediate  course,  but  what  is  really  compromise;  for, 
disguise  it  as  you  like,  he  who  thinks  he  is  taking  a  sort  of 
intermediate  course  is  not  gathering  with  Christ,  and  there- 
fore scattering ;  for  he  who  is  not  with  Him  out  and  out  is 
entirely  against  him.     Such  is  our  Lord's  solution  of  it. 

And  now,  my  dear  friends,  if  all  has  been  wrong  in  the 
past,  it  is  not  too  late  to  retrace  your  steps.  The  sun  has 
not  set,  the  voice  of  Jesus  is  not  yet  silenced.  Jerusalem, 
Capernaum,  Chorazin,  and  Bethsaida  have  all  perished ; 
but  we  are  here  still.  "  Let  the  wicked  man  forsake  his 
way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts:  and  let  him 
return  unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him ; 
and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon." 

And  let  me  add,  the  present  only  is  ours.  To-morrow 
you  may  be  numbered  with  the  silent  dead  ;  next  year  the 
place  that  knows  you  now  may  know  you  no  more  for  ever. 
Let  each  one  look  into  his  family  circle,  and  into  the  list  and 
catalogue  of  his  familiar  friends.  Those  you  thought  last 
year  were  likely  to  live  longest  are  dead,  and  those  you 
thought  were  in  the  autumn  leaf  have  survived,  and  stood 
it  out.  We  know  not  what  a  single  day  may  bring  forth. 
All  we  know  is  that  tliis  moment  is  ours.     The  past  is  not 


MATTHEW   XXIII.  295 

ours :  it  is  gone ;  we  cannot  recall  it.  The  future  is  not 
ours.  Now  is  the  day  of  salvation.  Let  it  sweep  past,  and 
what  an  awful  awakening  must  that  man's  be,  whose  eyes 
see  the  great  white  throne,  and  Him  on  it  from  whom  heaven 
and  earth  flee  a^vay,  and  whose  only  recollection  is,  "  The 
harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  I  am  not  saved ! " 
And,  my  dear  friends,  God  never  was  more  willing  to 
receive  you  than  he  is  now ;  and  if  you  were  to  wait  a 
thousand  years,  he  could  not  be  more  willing.  The  fact  is, 
he  looks  for  you,  he  longs  for  you.  Only  you  cannot  expect 
that  God  will  save  you  as  if  you  were  a  machine  or  an 
automaton.  God  did  not  ruin  you :  you  did  it  yourselves. 
God  will  not  save  you  in  spite  of  yourselves  :  he  will  work 
within  you  first  to  will  before  he  works  by  you  to  do  of  his 
good  pleasure.  And  therefore,  remember  that  if  you  are 
saved,  it  is  not  against  your  will.  No  man  goes  to  heaven 
with  protests  in  his  mouth,  and  no  man  goes  to  hell  ignorant 
of  the  road  he  is  walking  on.  We  all  know  much  better  than 
we  like  to  give  ourselves  credit  for,  where  we  are,  and 
whither  we  are  going  ;  and  it  is  time  that  Ave  should  well 
ponder  and  weigh  so  solemn  and  so  momentous  an  issue,  — 
an  issue  which  cannot  be  reversed  or  recalled.  You  may 
lose  your  money,  or  your  health,  and  recover  it ;  but  if  you 
lose  your  soul,  there  is  no  second  chance,  opening,  opportu- 
nity, or  possibility  of  recovery.  Let  it  not,  then,  be  said  of 
you,  "  Ye  would  not ; "  but  this  day  hft  up  the  heart  to  Him 
who  waits  to  shelter  you,  and  say,  "  Blessed  Jesus,  to  whom 
can  we  come  but  unto  thee?  Thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life.  Lord,  we  believe :  help  our  unbelief.  Thou 
knowest  all  things,  thou  knowest  that  we  cannot  love  thee 
as  we  should;  but  thou  knowest  that  we  would  not  part 
with  the  little  love  that  burns  within  us,  for  all  that  this 
world,  and  twenty  worlds  besides,  contain." 


296  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

Note.  —  Moses'  seat  is  the  oflSce  of  judge  and  lawgiver  of  the  people. 
(See  Exodus  ii.  13-26  ;  Deut.  xvii.  9-13.)  The  Lord  says,  "  In  so  far 
as  the  Pharisees  and  scribes  enforce  the  law  and  precepts  of  Moses, 
obey  them ;  but  imitate  not  their  conduct."  'E/cai9iaav  must  not  be 
pressed  too  strongly,  as  conveying  blame  :  "  have  seated  themselves," 
—  it  is  merely  stated  here  as  a  matter  of  fact.  Verses  8, 10,  however, 
apply  to  their  leadership,  as  well  as  their  faults;  and  declare  that 
among  Christians  there  ai-e  to  be  none  sitting  on  the  seat  of  Christ. 

[11.]  It  may  serve  to  show  us  how  little  the  letter  of  a  precept  has 
to  do  with  its  true  observance,  if  we  reflect  that  he  who  of  all  the  heads 
of  sects  has  most  notably  violated  this  whole  command,  and  caused 
others  to  do  so,  calls  himself"  Servus  servorum  Dei." — Alford. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

IMPORTANCE     OF     THIS     CHAPTEK JUDEA THE    TEMPLE  —  JEAVS 

AMERICA  —  THE   ABOMIKATION. 

The  chapter  I  have  read  is  one  of  the  most  solemn  and 
impressive  of  all  the  chapters  of  the  New  Testament,  those 
of  the  Apocalypse  scarcely  excepted.  It  would  take  a  very 
long  time  minutely  and  critically  to  illustrate  it.  I  can  only 
give  you  a  mere  resume,  or  epitome,  of  the  conclusions  that 
have  been  come  to,  by  careful  thought,  and  by  long  and  elab- 
orate analysis,  on  the  part  of  the  ablest  divines,  and  appeal 
to  that  good  sense  and  discernment  which  every  one  who 
reads  the  Bible,  not  as  a  critic, but  as  a  humble  Christian,  is 
more  or  less  possessed  of.  First,  in  the  previous  chapter  our 
Lord  said,  "  Your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate."  In  this 
chapter  He  describes  the  coming  desolation  with  a  graphic 
and  prophetic  minuteness,  that  all  history  bears  abundant 
testimony  to.  "  Your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate."* 
Then  Palestine  is  still  the  house  of  the  Jews.  It  is  unfur- 
nished, it  is  stripped  of  its  ornaments,  its  glory,  and  its 
beauty ;  but  it  is  their  house  still ;  and  the  Moslem,  the 
Romanist,  the  Greek,  the  Arab,  and  the  Bedouin  of  the 
desert,  are  simply  keeping  the  empty  house  till  the  lawful 
tenant  comes  in,  which  he  will  do  right  soon. 

His  disciples  then  came  and  pointed  out  to  him  the  build- 
ing of  the  temple,  whereupon  he  pronounced  a  prophecy 
the  most  unlikely  he  could  have  uttered  in  the  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was :  "  There  shall  not  be  left  here  one 


298  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

stone  upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down."  Some 
of  the  stones  were  fifteen  or  twenty  cubits  in  length,  mas- 
sive blocks  of  solid  granite,  that  must  have  taken  very 
powerful  machinery  and  immense  bodies  of  men  to  lift  and 
fix  in  their  places.  That  temple  seemed  a  prophecy  of  im- 
mortality, a  pledge  of  endurance ;  but  Jesus,  looking  on 
it  —  that  solitary  Man  of  sorrows,  with  scarcely  a  friend  in 
the  world,  with  no  power  to  achieve  apparently  what  he 
predicted  —  said,  "There  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone 
upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down."  Now,  it  is 
literally  true,  that  Titus  and  Vespasian  ploughed  it  up,  and 
removed  all  its  stones ;  and  the  only  memorial  of  its  ancient 
magnificence  and  grandeur  is  one  large  block  or  foundation 
stone  peeping  from  the  ruins,  which  has  been  worn  smooth 
by  the  kisses  of  Rabbis  and  Jews  who  visit  Jerusalem,  and 
fulfil  that  beautiful  statement  in  the  Psalms,  —  "  Thy  saints 
take  pleasure  in  her  stones :  her  very  dust  is  dear  to  them." 
I  have  often  thought,  what  can  be  the  meaning  of  all  this  ? 
No  Englishman  loves  his  home,  no  Scotchman  loves  his 
country,  as  a  Jew  loves  Palestine.  Why  is  this  ?  Because 
it  is  his  home  and  country ;  he  is  a  discrowned  king,  a 
weary  footed  wanderer,  having  a  heritage  before  him,  and  a 
destiny  in  prophecy,  in  comparison  of  which  the  grandest 
estates  are  worthless ;  and  having  a  lineage  and  an  ances- 
try, in  comparison  of  which  that  of  our  proudest  nobles  is 
but  of  yesterday. 

The  disciples  then  came  to  Jesus,  and  asked  two  ques- 
tions. "  Tell  us,  when  shall  these  things  be  ?  "  that  is,  the 
downfall  of  Jerusalem,  the  dislocation  of  all  the  stones  of 
its  temple,  and  the  termination  of  that  grand,  but  guilty 
dynasty,  which  ended  twenty  years  after  the  birth  of  our 
blessed  Lord.  That  is  the  first  question.  Then  the  second 
is,  "  What  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of "  — 
what  is  contemporaneous  with  it  —  "the  end,"  not  " of  the 
world,"  —  but  Tov  aiuvog,  "of  the  Christian  dispensation." 


MATTHEAV    XXIV.  299 

Our  Lord  proceeds  to  answer  these  tM^o  questions ;  but  in 
answering  the  first  he  frequently  starts  from  the  local  and 
the  national,  and  depicts  the  universal,  the  ultimate,  and  the 
closing;  that  is,  whilst  speaking  of  the  downfall  of  Jerusa- 
lem, he  refers  by  an  association  of  ideas  to  the  downfall  of 
the  present  dispensation ;  because  what  the  Jewish  dispen- 
sation was  to  the  Christian,  that  the  Christian  dispensation 
is  to  the  Millennial  reign  and  kingdom  and  glory ;  and  there 
will  be  a  crash  at  the  close  of  this  dispensation  vaster,  more 
terrific  and  startling,  than  that  which  took  place  at  the  close 
of  that  ancient  dispensation,  which  ended  nearly  1800  years 
ago. 

Then  He  said,  "  Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you. 
For  many  shall  come  in  my  name,  saying,  I  am  Christ ; 
and  shall  deceive  many."  This  did  occur  prior  to  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  False  prophets  and  pretenders 
came.  One  said  he  was-  the  Holy  Spirit.  Another  said  he 
was  the  true  Christ,  and  tried  to  seduce  and  deceive  many 
by  laboring  to  persuade  the  Jews  that  their  kingdom  would 
not  fall,  that  some  great  deliverer  would  appear,  and  make 
it  a  temporal,  perpetual,  and  magnificent  dynasty.  He  says 
also,  "  Ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars :  see  that 
ye  be  not  troubled :  for  all  these  things  must  come  to  pass, 
but  the  end  is  not  yet.  For  nation  shall  rise  against  nation, 
and  kingdom  against  kingdom :  and  there  shall  be  famines, 
and  pestilences,  and  earthquakes,  in  divers  places."  All 
these  did  actually  occur.  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian, 
who  in  all  probability  had  never  read  this  prophecy,  gives  a 
narrative  of  the  events  that  preceded  and  followed  the 
downfall  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  any  one  who  will  read  what  Dr. 
Keith  and  Bishop  Newton  have  written  upon  the  prophecy 
and  its  fulfilment,  will  see  how  the  one  dovetails  with  the 
other.  "  These,"  he  says,  "  are  the  beginning  of  sorrows. 
Then  shall  they  deliver  you  up  to  be  afflicted,  and  shall  kill 
you : "  —  all  the  apostles,  with  the  exception  of  John,  died 


300  ^      SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

violent  deaths  —  "  and  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  nations  for 
my  name's  sake."  "And  because  iniquity  shall  abound  "  — 
the  wickedness  of  the  nations  rise  to  a  very  great  height  — 
"  the  love  of  many  "  —  who  professed  the  Gospel  —  "  shall 
wax  cold.  But  he  that  shall  endure  unto  the  end,"  —  that 
is,  to  the  end  of  his  life  —  "  the  same  shall  be  saved." 

Then  it  is  said,  in  the  14th  verse,  "And  this  gospel  of  the 
kingdom  shall  be  preached  h  dXy  r?)  oUovfiivi^."  This  phrase 
is  used  to  denote  the  Roman  empire.  Hence,  we  read  ia 
Luke  ii.  1,  "  That  there  went  out  a  decree  from  Cassar 
Augustus,  that  all  the  world  (iTaGav  rrjv  olaoixevr/v)  should  be 
taxed."  That  expression  was  applied  primarily  to  the 
Roman  empire,  since  that  empire  comprised  the  whole  ex- 
isting civilization  of  the  world,  and  might  therefore  very 
properly  be  used  to  denote  all  the  world.  — "  This  Gospel 
of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world  for  a  wit- 
ness unto  all  nations  ;  and  then  shall  the  end  come."  Now 
I  think  it  can  be  proved  that  the  Gospel  was  preached  in 
every  part  of  the  habitable  globe  prior  to  the  downfall  of 
Jerusalem.  The  Apostle  Paul  set  his  foot  upon  the  shores 
of  Great  Britain  ;  and  we  learn  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles that  the  Gospel  was  preached  in  Asia  Minor  and  Africa. 
America,  if  then  inhabited  at  all,  was  peopled  by  a  few 
casual  emigrants  from  Africa  and  Asia ;  and  if  it  had  not 
the  Gospel  preached  to  it  territorially,  it  had  really.  It  is 
a  part  of  Great  Britain ;  and  we  thank  God  that  it  has  the 
same  religion,  and  that  in  the  coming  struggle  of  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth,  these  two  great  kingdoms  shall  be  linked 
together. 

He  then  warns  them  that  they  should  see  what  Avould 
prepare  and  awaken  those  Christians  who  were  in  Jerusa- 
lem to  flee,  namely,  "  the  abomination  of  desolation,  spoken 
of  by  Daniel  the  prophet."  Some  have  alleged  that  this 
was  the  Roman  eagle,  or  the  imperial  standard  of  Rome, 
which  is  now  assumed  by  the  new  French  dynasty,  and 


MATTHEW    XXIV.  301 

which,  being  planted  in  the  midst  of  Palestine,  became 
thereby  the  fuUilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  that  the 
abomination  of  desolation,  or  that  which  the  Jew  detested 
because  it  intruded  on  the  prerogatives  of  his  God,  would 
be  set  up  in  the  midst  of  the  Temple.  But  this  is  met 
fairly  by  the  objection  that  the  Roman  eagle  was  upon  the 
coins  of  the  realm,  and  had  been  planted  on  every  acre  of 
Palestine,  long  before  this ;  and  besides,  to  allege  that  this 
should  be  a  sign  to  the  Christian  Jews  to  escape  from  the 
coming  catastrophe,  is  to  give  a  sign  which  really  would  be 
no  sign  at  all.  It  would  seem  rather,  I  think,  as  it  has 
been  very  strongly  stated  by  Alford,  that  the  Zealots,  a  sect 
among  the  Jews,  should  intrude  into  the  sacred  temple,  and 
add  the  last  drop  to  the  iniquity  of  that  people,  and  precipi- 
tate, by  the  desecration  of  the  holiest  part  of  the  temple, 
the  catastrophe  that  was  then  impending  at  their  doors. 
The  first  two  Gospels,  Matthew  and  Mark,  have  an  inner 
reference  to  the  Jew ;  the  last  two  Gospels,  Luke  and  John, 
have  an  outer  reference  to  the  Gentile.  The  abomination 
of  desolation  to  the  Jew  would  be  something  interfering 
with  the  sacredness  of  his  temple ;  but  the  eagles  of  Rome 
environing  the  capital  would  be  a  far  more  intelligible  sign 
to  the  Gentiles  who  were  in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem  at  that 
time,  than  to  the  Jews. 

Then  he  says  —  "Let  him  which  is  on  the  house-top  not 
come  down  to  take  any  thing  out  of  his  house."  In  Jewish 
houses  there  was  an  inside,  and  often  an  outside  staircase. 
The  roofs  of  the  houses  were  flat ;  and  a  Jew  on  the  top  of 
his  house,  looking  for  the  signs  of  the  approaching  judg- 
ment, or  watching  the  manoeuvring  of  the  Roman  army, 
when  he  saw  this  great  abomination,  or  heard  that  it  had 
taken  place,  was  here  warned  not  to  go  down  into  his 
house  to  carry  away  any  of  his  goods,  but  to  leave  them, 
and  escape  with  all  speed  to  the  mountains  that  were  around 
Jerusalem. 

26 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

SABBATH   DAY — WARNINGS ANTICHRIST  —  SIGNS    IN    LAST    DAYS 

—  PROOF    OF    cubist's  ADVENT  —  BUDDING  OF  THE  FIG-TREE  

THIS  GENERATION  STATE  OF  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  ADVENT. 

Jesus  continues  in  this  remarkable  24th  chapter  of  St. 
Matthew  —  "Pray  ye  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the  win- 
ter," when  the  coldness  of  the  season,  or  the  bad  state  of 
the  roads,  might  be  obstructions  to  their  escape,  "  neither  on 
the  Sabbath  day."  That  does  not  mean  that  it  is  wrong  to 
flee  from  calamity  on  the  Sabbath  day.  If  any  thing  oc- 
curred that  threatened  you  with  danger,  it  would  be  your 
duty  on  the  Sabbatli  day  to  make  your  escape  from  it.  If 
our  own  capital  were  invaded  —  as  we  hope  it  will  not  be  — 
it  would  be  our  duty  on  the  Sabbath  day  to  defend  it  to  the 
very  utmost  of  our  power,  or  in  case  of  necessity,  to  escape 
from  its  ruins  as  fast  as  we  could.  What,  then,  is  the 
meaning  of  our  Lord  ?  Not  only  on  the  Sabbath  day  was 
it  unlawful  to  take  a  long  journey,  (which  is  not  the  idea  of 
our  Lord,)  but  the  gates  of  the  city  were  shut,  and  all 
means  of  egress  prevented.  Thus,  if  they  were  to  escape 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  the  impending  ruin  would  fall  upon  the 
city  before  it  was  possible  for  the  inmates  to  reach  the 
neighboring  mountains.  It  was  simply  from  the  usages  of 
the  Sabbath,  not  from  its  sacredness,  that  our  Lord  bade 
them  pray  that  their  flight  might  not  be  on  that  day. 

And  then  he  adds,  that  there  "shall  be  great  tribula- 
tion"—  and  this  cannot  be  restricted  to  the  downfall  of 


MATTHEW    XXIV.  303 

Jerusalem  —  "  such  as  was  not  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  no,  nor  ever  shall  be."  Now  we  read  expressly  that 
the  last  days  of  this  dispensation  shall  be  far  more  terrific, 
and  that  there  shall  be  troubles  unprecedented  since  the 
beginning  of  the  world.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  our 
Lord  starts  from  the  type  to  that  which  is  typified,  and 
sweeps  from  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  to  the  fall  of  the  Gentile 
church,  and  mingles  the  two  great  events  together,  the  one 
being  exactly  a  type  and  illustration  of  the  other. 

He  then  says  —  "  If  any  man  shall  say  unto  you,  Lo, 
here  is  Christ,  or  there ;  believe  it  not."  Christ  will  not 
come  in  that  way.  "  For  there  shall  arise  false  Christs, 
and  false  prophets,  and  shall  show  great  signs  and  wonders ; 
insomuch  that,  if  it  were  possible,  they  shall  deceive  the 
very  elect."  I  believe  this  applies  to  the  future,  and  was 
only  partially  applicable  to  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem  ;  be- 
cause I  cannot  conceive  that  our  Lord  repeats  himself.  He 
had  said  in  a  previous  passage,  that  before  the  downfall  oi' 
Jerusalem  many  should  come  in  his  name,  saying,  I  am 
Christ,  and  should  deceive  many.  Here  he  amplifies  the 
prophecy,  and  evidently  stretches  forward  to  a  future  catas- 
trophe, namely,  the  downfall  of  this  present  Gentile  dispen- 
sation. He  says,  "  There  shall  arise  false  Christs."  Why, 
what  is  the  Pope*  of  Rome  ?  He  is  the  avTixpLcro^,  the  false 
Christ,  the  pretended  vicegerent  of  Christ. 

I  have  often  made  the  remark  (and  you  will  never  be 
able  to  understand  what  the  mystery  of  iniquity  is  till  you 
appreciate  it),  that  uvrixpioTog  does  not  mean  opposed  to 
Christ  —  it  is  not  the  preposition  anti  used  in  the  sense  of 
"  against,"  as  the  words  "  antipjedobaptist,"  or  "  antitrinita- 
rian;"  but  anti,  when  used  in  connection  with  ^  noun  of 
office,  does  not  mean  "  against,"  but  "  in  the  room  of"  Such 
expressions  as  these  are  proof  of  this  :  'AvdvKarog  was  not  a 
person  opposed  to  the  consul,  but  a  person  who  took  the 
place  of  the  consul.     Again,  'AxMevg  a>r  dvnMuv,  "Achilles 


304  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

is  as  strong  as  a  lion "  —  not  "  one  opposed  to  a  lion,"  but 
"  one  who  takes  the  place  of  a  lion,  and  does  what  a  lion 
can  do."  Again,  we  read  in  Greek  writers  of  the  uvrtlSaaiXeiic, 
that  is,  "  one  who  takes  the  place  of  the  king,  and  pretends 
to  occupy  his  position."  So  we  have  the  antij^apa.  These 
were  not  persons  opposed  to  the  Popedom,  but  who  were  so 
enamoured  with  it,  that  they  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  exist- 
ing Pope,  and  occupy  his  place.  So  the  uvrixpiOTog  is  not  one 
opposed  to  Christ,  but  one  who  takes  the  place  of  Christ  — 
arrays  himself  in  his  attributes,  sits  as  if  he  were  the  Head 
of  the  Church,  and  assumes  to  be  in  all  respects  what  he 
calls  himself,  the  vicegerent  of  Christ  upon  earth ;  or,  as  he 
calls  himself  more  commonly,  "  the  Vicar  of  Christ,"  —  the 
vice-Christ.  A  vice-president  is  one  who  takes  the  place 
of  the  president.  A  vice-Christ  is  one  who  takes  himself 
the  place  of  God,  —  the  Vicar  of  God ;  by  that  expression 
sealing  his  own  condemnation.  You  know  that  when  a  lay 
impropriator  receives  the  tithes,  as  they  are  called  in  Eng- 
land, or  the  teinds,  as  they  are  called  in  Scotland,  the  per- 
son who  occupies  the  pulpit  is  not  a  rector,  but  a  vicar  — 
wherever  in  a  parish  there  is  a  vicar,  it  denotes  that  the 
rector,  or  proprietor  of  the  ecclesiastical  property,  is  absent. 
Now,  when  the  Pope  calls  himself  the  Vicar  of  God,  it  is 
simply  telling  every  one  that  God  is  not  there,  and  that  he 
is  pretending  to  do  all  in  his  stead.  In  other  words,  "  h-e,  as 
God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he 
is  God." 

Now,  this  is  one  of  the  "  false  Christs."  And  He  adds, 
that  they  "  shall  show  great  signs  and  wonders,"  —  crinela 
neyala  koX  ripara,  which  words  denote  real  signs.  I  believe 
the  Church  of  Rome  will  do  great  signs  and  wonders  before 
she  is  cast  down  in  ruins ;  but  I  have  given  you  on  a 
previous  occasion  the  criterion  by  which  you  are  to  distin- 
guish what  is  false  from  what  is  divine.  All  the  signs  of 
the  universe  never  could  persuade  me  that  the  Bible  is  not 


MATTHEW    XXIV.  305 

true ;  and  if  an  angel  were  to  come  from  heaven  radiant 
with  its  unutterable  glorj,  and  were  to  raise  a  dead  man,  in 
order  to  persuade  me  that  this  Book  was  a  lie,  I  should 
treat  with  scorn  his  attempts,  and  fall  back  on  the  conviction, 
lasting  as  the  God  who  inspired  it,  "  Thy  Word,  O  God,  is 
truth."  But  these  miracles  will  evidently  have  great  force, 
and  cannot,  therefore,  be  merely  the  foolish  and  anile  speci- 
mens that  Dr.  Newman  has  given  ;  for  I  think  he  has  not 
given  the  best  selection  of  the  miracles  of  the  Church  of 
Rome.     Mark  how  strong  these  signs  and  wonders  shall  be 

—  "  If  it  were  possible,  they  shall  deceive  the  very  elect." 
This  implies,  that  it  is  not  possible  so  to  do;  but  it  also 
implies  that  these  miracles  shall  be  most  impressive.  But 
the  miracles  that  would  almost  deceive  the  elect  are  not  the 
foolish  things  that  Dr.  Newman  has  promulgated,  —  such  as 
a  saint  swimming  across  the  Mediterranean  on  his  cloak,  or 
another  carrying  his  head  under  his  arm  after  having  been 
beheaded,  or  the  blood  of  another  hardening  and  melting  at 
certain  times,  and  especially  when  one  of  the  Januarides,  or 
descendants  of  the  saint,  happens  to  be  present  on  his  day 
at  Naples.  These  miracles,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  will 
be  Satanic  power  in  its  most  terrific  development ;  and  they 
will  so  strike  the  senses,  "  that  if  it  were  possible,  they  shall 
deceive  the  very  elect."  Then  what  is  our  gran<i  bulwark 
against  them  ?  To  be  Christians,  to  be  the  children  of 
God. 

After  he  has  answered  this  first  question,  relating  partly 
to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  but  touching  also  upon  the  close  of 
this  dispensation,  he  proceeds  to  answer  the  second  question. 

—  "  What  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end 
of  the  world  ? "  And  he  says,  that  instead  of  its  being  & 
thing  unseen,  it  shall  flash  like  the  lightning  that  bursts  from 
the  east,  and  covers  the  whole  horizon  with  its  splendor, 
till  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  also  that  pierced 
him. 

26* 


306  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Now,  I  wish  you  to  notice  that  there  is  not  the  least  hint 
here  that  the  Millennium  shall  precede  the  coming  of  Christ. 
There  is  not  the  least  hint  that  there  shall  be  a  thousand 
years  of  beautiful  repose  and  peace,  order,  life,  light,  and 
truth ;  and  that  then  Christ  shall  come.  Do  you  think  if 
such  an  event  as  the  Millennium  had  been  intended  to  pre- 
cede the  coming  of  Christ,  that  in  specifying  the  signs  of 
his  approach,  Christ  would  have  left  out  this  very  remark- 
able one  ?  Evidently  Christ  shall  burst  upon  a  world  un- 
prepared for  his  advent :  for  he  shall  come  with  the  sudden- 
ness and  the  startling  splendor  of  the  lightning,  and  "  gather 
together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of 
heaven  to  the  other." 

Then,  he  gives  a  parable  illustrative  of  it  in  the  32d  verse : 
"  Now  learn  a  parable  of  the  fig-tree ;  When  his  branch  is 
yet  tender,  and  putteth  forth  leaves,  ye  know  that  summer 
is  nigh."  Recollect  that  he  had  just  blasted  the  fig-tree 
that  he  met  on  the  road,  more  symbolically,  than  from  any 
other  cause.  The  fig-tree  was  the  symbol  of  Judea,  and 
when  he  blasted  it,  he  said,  "  Let  no  more  fruit  grow  on  thee 
elg  Tov  aluva,"  that  is,  till  the  consummation  of  the  Gentile  dis- 
pensation. Now,  he  says  whenever  that  fig-tree  which  he 
blasted,  by  saying  no  more  fruit  should  grow  upon  it  till  the 
close  of  tBis  dispensation,  shall  begin  to  put  forth  a  little 
green  leaf  here  and  there,  it  is  the  sign  of  summer.  What 
summer  ?  That  beautiful  summer  that  shall  be  irradiated 
with  a  millennial  sun,  when  Jew  and  Gentile  shall  come  to 
the  brightness  of  His  rising.  This  is  the  cold  winter  of  the 
world.  We  are  now  at  our  greatest  distance  or  aphelion 
from  the  Sun  of  righteousness.  But  it  is  a  delightful  thought 
that  the  winter  gives  signs  of  closing  —  that  the  first  buds  ot 
spring  begin  now  to  show  themselves,  that  on  every  dry  branch 
and  stem  of  Judah's  withered  fig-tree,  buds  at  this  moment 
are  beginning  to  appear.  What  is  the  great  question  of  the 
world  ?     The  political  condition  of  the  Jew      What  is  the 


MATTHEW  xxir.  307 

great  subject  of  the  Church  ?  The  conversion  of  the  Jews. 
I  do  not  believe  that  either  will  occur  here  ;  for,  Avhen  you 
have  admitted  them  to  what  it  is  thought  are  their  privileges, 
they  will  depart  for  Palestine,  where  their  rights  and  inher- 
itance are. 

I  believe  we  are  on  the  very  eve  of  events  that  w^ill  startle 
the  wide  world,  and  that  we  are  approaching  rapidly  to  the 
close  of  what  is  called  the  aldv,  the  age,  or  the  present  dis- 
pensation. It  has  been  proved  by  Clinton,  in  his  Fasti,  that 
the  true  chronology  of  the  world  leads  us  to  conclude,  that 
1864  will  be  the  close  of  the  six  thousandth  year  of  the 
world  ;  and  after  six  thousand  years  of  the  world  are  finished, 
every  Jew  expects  the  Sabbath,  that  is,  the  aajSfSanafidc,  the 
rest  for  the  people  of  God  to  begin.  He  expects  this  in 
analogy  to  the  rest  that  follows  every  six  days.  And  if  you 
will  be  at  the  trouble  of  looking  at  an  engraved  table  con- 
tained in  Mr.  Elliott's  Ilorce  Apocalypticce,  you  will  find  that 
the  lines  of  prophecy  all  converge  about  1860  or  1864. 
The  different  epochs  of  Daniel,  as  far  as  we  can  judge  by 
dates,  all  seem  to  converge  at  that  time.  And  when  we  see 
the  forces  that  are  now  mustering  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  we  are  led  to  expect  that  our  country  will  be  sur- 
rounded by  the  armies  of  the  earth  as  with  a  belt ;  and  that 
the  last  fight  for  freedom  and  for  faith  may  be  within  the 
silver  coasted  shores  of  our  beloved  land. 

He  then  describes  what  people  shall  be  doing  at  his 
coming ;  "  As  the  days  of  Noe  were,  so  shall  also  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  be."  But  he  adds,  "  That  day  and  hour 
knoweth  no  man ;  no,  not  the  angels  of  heaven,  but  my 
Father  only."  In  another  Gospel  it  is  said,  "  No,  not  the 
Son ; "  that  is,  it  is  not  specified ;  we  can  only  gather  the 
probabilities  from  the  signs  of  the  times,  whilst  the  day  and 
the  hour  are  not  yet  revealed.  But  yet  the  signs  and  token'5 
of  its  approach  are  given,  and  from  these  we  may  conclude, 
and  are  warranted  to  infer  its  nearness.     For  instance,  it 


308  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

was  not  told  the  Jewish  Christians  directly  that  in  the  year 
70  the  Roman  army  would  sweep  away  their  capital ;  but 
they  were  warned  by  previously  predicted  facts  that  the 
desolation  of  their  country  was  at  hand.  We  are  not  told 
that  in  the  year  1864  the  Millennium  shall  commence;  but 
we  are  told  of  certain  signs,  which  ought  to  lead  us  to  antici- 
pate its  near  approach. 

Then,  there  is  an  expression  that  has  been  misunderstood 
in  the  34th  verse,  "  This  generation  shall  not  pass,  till  all 
these  things  be  fulfilled."  Now,  it  has  been  argued  by  Mr. 
Brown,  by  Mr.  Barnes,  and  by  two  or  three  other  writers,  I 
think,  very  foolishly  and  erroneously,  that  this  means,  that 
all  the  things  predicted  in  this  chapter,  which  I  have  sup- 
posed to  relate  partly  to  the  close  of  this  dispensation,  were 
to  be  consummated  during  the  then  existing  generation  of 
the  Jews.  We  know  that  thirty  years  is  the  maximum  of 
a  generation  ;  but  upwards  of  forty  years  elapsed  after  our 
Lord  had  uttered  these  words  before  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem. Therefore,  supposing  a  generation  to  be  thirty 
years,  which  is  the  average  life  of  a  body  of  men,  this  state- 
ment would  not  be  true.  But  the  Greek  word  here  used  — 
yevea,  I  think,  can  be  demonstrated  to  mean,  not  a  generation 
in  its  chronological  sense,  but  a  race.  For  instance.  Homer 
speaks  of  yeveu  c^vlluv,  that  is,  "  the  race  of  men  is  just  like 
the  race  of  leaves."  Now,  what  does  he  mean  there  by  race  ? 
Unquestionably,  the  human  race,  the  family  of  man.  So, 
yevea  fiepoTcurv  dvOpuKuv,  i.  e.  the  human  race.  Again,  we 
have  it  in  the  Psalms,  "  This  is  the  generation  of  them  that 
seek  him,"  (Psalm  xxiv.  6,)  that  is,  the  race.  And  again, 
we  have  it  in  the  very  previous  chapter,  at  the  36th  verse, 
"  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  All  these  things  shall  come  upon 
this  generation ; "  i.  e.  Jewish  race.  Therefore,  our  Lord 
uses  the  word  to  denote  the  Jewish  race ;  and  what  he 
means  is,  that  the  Jewish  people  shall  be  trodden  underfoot 
by  the  other  nations  of  the  earth  till  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 


MATTHEW   XXIV.  309 

tiles  come ;  but  they  shall  not  pass  away  till  all  these  things 
shall  be  fulfilled.  Why^  you  have  the  evidence  of  it  on 
your  streets.  Every  Jew  who  walks  them,  and  transacts  the 
business  of  the  world — the  bankers  of  Europe,  as  they  are 
called,  —  is  an  evidence  that  this  generation  has  not  passed 
away,  and  that  they  will  last  till  all  these  great  events  here 
predicted  are  fulfilled  ;  after  which  they  shall  return  to  their 
own  land,  and  melt  in  the  everlasting  summer,  and  dissolve 
into  harmony  and  brotherhood  with  all  the  races  of  the 
Gentiles  —  enlightened,  convinced,  and  converted  with 
them. 

He  then  describes  what  shall  be  the  state  of  men  at  his 
coming.  Instead  of  it  being  preceded  by  a  Millennium, 
they  shall  be  "  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in 
marriage  ; "  —  all  proper  ;  but  denoting  that  they  shall  be 
thinking  only  of  these  things,  instead  of  weeping  as  though 
they  wept  not,  and  rejoicing  as  though  they  rejoiced  not. 
Why,  any  worldly  man,  and  I  dare  say  many  who  hear  me, 
will  say,  "  Does  he  not  speak  parables  ?  This  will  not  do 
for  this  'working  world;'"  and  they  will  go  on  eating  and 
drinking,  and  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage,  just  as  in 
the  days  of  Noah.  And  then  there  shall  flash  upon  them 
the  lightning  gleam  that  ushers  in  the  advent  of  Him  who 
consumes  the  wicked  from  his  presence,  and  gathers  the  elect 
into  his  own  bosom.  And  such  will  be  the  state  of  the  world, 
that  He  says,  "  Two  shall  be  in  the  field ;  the  one  shall  be 
taken,  and  the  other  left.  Two  women  shall  be  grinding  at 
the  mill ;  the  one  shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left ; "  — 
that  is,  two  shall  be  turning  the  mill-stone,  or  employed  in 
their  domestic  cares  —  one  shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left. 
"  Blessed  is  that  servant,  whom  his  Lord  when  he  cometh, 
shall  find  watching." 

Blessed  Lord,  make  us  ready  for  thy  coming! 


310  SCRIPTUKE    READINGS. 

Note.  —  For  the  understanding  of  this  necessarily  difficult  prophetic 
discourse,  it  must  be  "borne  in  mind,  that  the  whole  is  spoken  in  the 
pregnant  language  of  prophecy,  in  which  various  fulfilments  are  in- 
volved :  —  1.  The  view  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  its  fortunes,  as  repre- 
senting the  Christian  Church  and  its  history,  is  one  key  to  the  inter- 
pretation of  this  chapter.  Two  parallel  interpretations  run  through 
the  former  pai-t  as  far  as  verse  28  ;  —  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  final  judgment,  being  both  enveloped  in  the  words,  but  the  former 
in  this  part  of  the  chapter  predominating.  Even  in  this  part,  however, 
we  cannot  tell  how  applicable  the  warnings  given  maybe  to  the  events 
of  the  last  times,  in  which  apparently  Jerusalem  is  again  to  play  so 
distinguished  a  part.  From  verse  28  the  lesser  subject  begins  to  be 
swallowed  up  by  the  greater,  and  the  Lord's  second  coming  to  be  the 
predominant  theme ;  with,  however,  certain  hints  thrown  back  as  it 
Avei-e  at  the  event  which  was  immediately  in  question  :  till,  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  chapter,  and  the  whole  of  the  next,  the  second  advent, 
and,  at  last,  the  final  judgment  ensuing  on  it,  are  the  subjects. 
2.  Another  weighty  matter  for  the  understanding  of  this  prophecy  is, 
that  (see  Mark  xiii.  32)  any  obscurity  or  concealment  concerning  the 
time  of  the  Lord's  second  coming  must  be  attributed  to  the  right  cause, 
which  we  know  from  his  own  mouth  to  be,  that  the  Divine  Speaker 
Himself,  in  his  humiliation,  did  not  know  the  day  or  the  hour.  — 
Alford. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE   PARABLE    OF   THE  TEN  VIRGINS. 

There  are  first  of  all  two  impressive  and  instructive 
parables  recorded  in  this  chapter,  presenting,  as  some 
think,  diflferent  periods  or  phases  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Church ;  and,  as  all  think,  at  least  diflferent 
aspects  of  the  Christian  character.  The  two  parables  are 
followed  by  a  picture  of  the  last  or  the  judgment-day,  when 
all  the  Gentile  nations  shall  be  summoned  before  the  throne 
of  God,  and  shall  receive  just,  impartial,  and  everlasting 
retributions.  The  first  parable,  that  of  the  ten  virgins, 
some  have  applied  to  the  Jews ;  and  the  second  parable,  of 
the  talents,  more  especially  to  the  Gentiles ;  but  the  last 
record  in  this  chapter  they  have  supposed  not  to  relate  to 
the  final  judgment  of  the  righteous  and  the  unrighteous,  but 
to  a  distinct  act  of  judgment,  in  reference  to  the  Gentile 
nations  who  have  lived  and  died  ignorant  of  the  truth,  and 
yet  some  of  them  under  the  influence  of  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity. 

The  first  is  the  parable  of  the  ten  virgins,  or  a  picture  of 
an  Eastern  wedding ;  when  the  bridegroom  comes  at  night 
to  conduct  the  bride  to  his  home  ;  and  certain  virgins  appear 
with  lamps,  or  torches,  to  add  to  the  splendor  of  the  scene, 
and  increase  the  pomp  and  pageantry  of  so  joyous  a  proces- 
sion. This  is  a  frequent  symbol  of  Christ's  relationship  to 
his  Church,  and  of  the  Church's  relationship  to  him.  She 
is  the  bride,  He  is  the  Bridegroom.     The  virgins  are,  of 


312  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

course,  if  Christians,  included  in  the  comprehensive  epithet 
"  the  bride,"  although  here,  for  the  sake  of  the  story  itself, 
and  the  peculiarity  of  the  duties  that  they  are  to  discharge, 
they  are  distinguished  in  historical  fact,  though  not  in  Chris- 
tian character,  from  the  bride  herself,  or  the  Christian 
Church. 

It  is  said,  that  there  were  ten  virgins.  In  the  Jewish 
Church  ten  persons  were  requisite  to  constitute  a  valid  syn- 
agogue ;  and  probably,  therefore,  the  number  ten  is  here 
selected,  because  it  was  a  number  well  known  to  the  Jews, 
and  with  which  they  were  most  familiar  in  their  varied 
ecclesiastical  and  political  economies. 

These  ten  virgins  took  their  lamps,  and  went  out  to  meet 
the  bridegroom.  Five,  it  is  said,  were  wise,  and  showed 
their  wisdom  by  taking  oil  in  their  vessels ;  so  that  if  the 
bridegroom  should  tarry,  they  might  have  oil  in  the  vessels 
to  add  to  the  lamp,  to  enable  it  to  burn  as  long  as  there 
might  be  occasion.  The  other  five  took  no  oil  with  them,  or 
took  only  oil  in  the  lamp  without  a  distinct  vessel  to  contain 
an  additional  supply,  from  which  to  prepare  the  lamp  still 
to  burn  when  the  first  supply  should  be  exhausted. 

We  are  not,  I  think,  to  infer  from  this,  that  half  the 
human  family  shall  be  lost,  and  that  half  shall  be  saved. 
We  must  never  wring  from  every  incident  in  a  parable  dis- 
tinct and  specific  meaning.  There  must  be  some  traits  or 
facts  that  are  incidentally  requisite  to  constitute  the  integrity 
of  the  story,  and  not  to  be  interpreted  each,  however 
minute,  as  conveying  some  great  moral  or  spiritual  lesson ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  subsidiary  to  the  great  object  of  the 
parable,  which  is  to  set  forth  one  given  and  definite  truth. 

These  virgins  were  all  of  tiiem  professors ;  that  is,  they 
believed  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  and  assumed  the 
Christian  character.  They  had  lamps,  and  wicks  in  their 
lamps,  which  all  burned  so  long ;  but  the  lamps  of  the  five 
foolish  very  much  less  time  than  was  really  required  by  the 
occasion. 


MATTHEW    XXV.  313 

When  they  set  out  to  meet  the  bridegroom,  it  is  said,  he 
"  tarried,"  —  not  really  ;  for  Christ's  day  of  arrival  is  abso- 
lutely fixed ;  but  it  seemed  to  them  as  if  he  tarried,  —  the 
time  appeared  longer  than  they  expected.  And  whilst  he 
tarried,  they  all  began,  as  it  was  near  midnight,  to  slumber 
and  sleep ;  that  is,  to  fall  into  a  state  of  apathy  and  indiffer- 
ence, satisfied  with  the  world  as  it  is,  and  not  stretching 
their  hearts  and  affections  towards  that  coming  glory  into 
which  God's  people  —  those  who  watch  and  Avait  —  shall  be 
ushered  at  the  end. 

When  the  cry  came  at  midnight,  "  Behold,  the  bride- 
groom Cometh ;  go  ye  out  to  meet  him,"  then  the  distinction 
developed  itself.  The  five  foolish  virgins  found  that  their 
lamps  had  gone  out  whilst  they  were  sleeping,  and  the  five 
wise  ones  found  that  their  lamps  had  gone  out  —  the  oil 
being  exhausted  in  both  cases ;  but  the  wise  knew  that  they 
could  rekindle  them  by  the  supply  of  oil  from  their  vessels. 
The  foolish  virgins,  when  they  saw  their  great  loss  —  the 
failure  of  what  was  most  precious,  just  at  the  hour  when  it 
was  most  needed,  applied  to  the  wise  ones,  not  to  the  Foun- 
tain Himself,  and  asked  them  to  lend  them  a  little  of  their 
oil.  But  the  answer  was,  "  Not  so ;  lest  there  be  not 
enough  for  us  and  you :  but  go  ye  rather  to  them  that 
sell,"  —  go  to  them  that  tell  you  where  oil  is  to  be  had :  go 
and  seek  a  supply  from  the  inexhaustible  Fountain.  A 
Chrtstian  cannot  communicate  the  grace  that  he  has  to  his 
brother,  however  dearly  beloved  that  brother  may  be.  He 
can  only  tell  him  where  grace  is  to  be  found.  Hence,  in 
missionary  action  we  do  not  distribute  to  others  that  which 
we  have,  but  we  tell  others. where  the  supply  is,  and  where 
they  may  find  abundantly  that  which  we  have  graciously 
received  before  them.  It  is  most  important  that  we  should 
ever  bear  in  mind  that  no  man  has  any  grace  to  spare  for  a 
brother.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  supererogatory  fund 
of  Christian  character  that  may  be  distributed  either  by  the 
27 


314  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

hand  of  Pope,  or  priest,  or  any  other.  Each  has  only 
enough  for  himself;  but  Avhile  he  gives  nothing  to  others  of 
what  he  has,  it  is  his  duty  to  tell  others  where  they  may 
find  what  he  has  found  so  amply  before. 

The  foolish  virgins  took  good  advice,  but  they  went  to 
buy  just  when  it  was  too  late.  The  bridegroom  came,  the 
day  of  grace  closed,  the  day  of  judgment  began.  They 
might  have  had  any  quantity  of  oil  a  week  before ;  they 
could  not  obtain  even  a  single  drop  the  instant  that  the 
trumpet  sounded,  and  the  great  Judge  of  heaven  and  earth 
had  arrived  to  call  all  before  him,  and  to  determine  ever- 
lasting destinies  just  by  what  they  were  at  that  hour. 

Let  us  recollect  with  reference  to  death,  that  what  wc 
are  when  death  comes,  is  what  we  shall  everlastingly  bo 
after  the  judgment-day.  There  is  no  buying  of  grace  after 
death;  there  is  only  then  the  living  on  the  stock  which  we 
have  access  to  or  accumulated  in  life.  Every  man  is  pre- 
paring day  by  day  for  an -everlasting  life.  What  he  sows 
now  hQ  reaps  then ;  what  he  lays  up  now^  he  lives  on 
then.  Time  is  the  spring,  eternity  the  everlasting  harvest, 
the  ceaseless  reaping.  Let  us  ask  ourselves,  then,  have 
we,  not  oil  in  our  lamps,  but  grace  in  our  hearts?  Are 
we  in  any  sense  of  the  word  Christians  ?  Are  we,  not  pro- 
fessors, baptized,  communicants,  only,  but  something  more — 
have  we  that  inner  life  which  shall  never  die,  that  inex- 
haustible possession  of  grace  which  shall  last,  increased!*  and 
increasing,  for  ever  and  ever?  When  death  comes,  though 
death  is  not  the  idea  that  is  inculcated  here,  yet  it  is  sug- 
gested by  the  parable  —  when  death  comes,  will  it  find  us 
proceeding  in  a  course  that  shall  end  in  everlasting  joy,  or 
advancing  in  a  career  that  shall  usher  us  into  everlasting 
misery  ?  Death  does  not  alter  our  direction,  it  only  con- 
tinues it.  Death  does  not  change  our  character,  it  only  fixes 
it.  The  waters  of  death  have  no  power  of  ablution ;  they 
merely  waft  us  on   that  course,  and  toward  that  object,  for 


MATTHEAV   XXV.  315 

which  we  have  been  preparing  in  life  by  grace,  or  for 
which  we  have  been  fitting  ourselves  by  nature,  by  sin,  and 
by  estrangement  from  God. 

But  in  the  higher  sense  of  this  parable,  it  denotes  that 
we  know  not  at  what  day  Christ  may  come.  All  things  are 
indicating  the  rapidly  approaching  close  of  this  dispensation. 
The  midnight  cry  has  resounded  from  the  deserts  of  the 
earth,  "  The  Bridegroom  cometh."  In  deepening  voices  it 
is  heard  every  day.  From  multiplying  oracles  it  is  uttered. 
I  believe  it  is  just  at  our  doors.  Let  us  ask  ourselves,  then, 
my  dear  friends,  knowing  not  when  that  day  may  come, 
knowing  only  this,  that  in  an  hour  when  we  think  not,  then 
the  Bridegroom  shall  come ;  are  we  waiting  for  Him  ? 
What  a  beautiful  attitude  is  that  of  a  Christian !  He  is 
one  waiting  as  a  bride  for  the  bridegroom,  as  a  widow  for 
the  everlasting  Husband,  as  an  orphan  for  the  heavenly 
Father. 

It  is  a  very  foolish  notion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  that 
the  five  wise  virgins  here  are  nuns,  and  that  the  five  foolish 
virgins  are  those  Christian  females  who  cannot  see  their 
way  to  become  nuns.  I  can  conceive  no  more  violent  strain  • 
ing  of  a  simple  and  beautiful  parable  than  this.  It  is  possi- 
ble to  enter  into  a  convent,  and  to  have  no  oil  in  the  lamp, 
or  grace  in  the  heart ;  they  are  not  all  Christians  in  con- 
vents. It  is  possible  to  be  in  the  world,  and  yet  not  be  of 
it.  It  is  possible  to  go  mechanically  out  of  the  world,  and 
yet  to  plunge  deeper  into  aberration  from  God.  It  is  not 
mechanical  separation  from  the  world  that  constitutes  moral 
character.  It  is  moral  character  that,  amid  any  untoward 
circumstances,  lives,  maintains  its  purity,  holds  communion 
with  the  skies,  and  feeds  upon  the  liidden  manna  and  the 
living  water  that  cometh  down  from  heaven.  You  may  be 
a  Christian  anywhere ;  you  may  be  a  nun  or  a  monk,  and 
not  a  Christian  at  all.  And  when  one  knows  what  monks 
must  study,  and  nuns  must  read,  as  I  do  know,  one  feels 


316     '  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

perfectly  sure  of  this,  that  no  monk  or  nun  who  reads  the 
Breviary,  as  they  must  read  it  by  the  laws  of  their  church, 
can  either  have  a  very  enlightened  mind,  or  a  very  pure 
heart,  or  a  very  charitable  feeling.  Some  of  its  lessons  are 
sanguinary,  others  superstitious,  and  all  of  them  unscrip- 
tural,  and  fitted  to  demoralize,  not  to  exalt  and  elevate  the 
character  of  man. 


CHAPTER     XXV. 

THE    PARABLE     OF   THE    TALENTS  —  THE    TWO    GREAT    DIVISIONS  — 
THE    HEATHEN SUFFERERS HEAVEN    AND    HELL. 

The  next  parable  set  before  us  in  this  25th  chapter  illus> 
trates  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  by  one  who  went  into  a  far 
country,  and  "  called  his  own  servants,  and  delivered  unto 
them  his  goods."  Some  think,  and,  I  conceive,  very  justly, 
that  this  parable  of  the  talents  relates  to  the  whole  human 
family ;  and  that  it  is  the  expression  of  that  responsibility 
that  devolves  upon  every  man  for  the  talent  that  he  has, 
whatever  that  talent  may  be,  and  the  use  that  he  makes  of 
it,  either  in  the  providence  of  God,  if  it  be  natural,  or  by 
the  grace  of  God,  if  it  be  spiritual  and  Christian. 

This  man  gave  to  one  of  his  servants  five  talents,  to 
another  two,  and  to  another  one.  Here  is  sovereignty. 
God  makes  one  man  very  clever,  another  man  not  so.  He 
makes  one  ^man  a  noble,  another  a  commoner.  He  makes 
one  man  rich,  another  poor.  There  is  no  sin  in  riches,  in 
nobility,  in  talent.  There  is  no  merit  in  poverty,  in  lowli- 
ness, in  want.  We  are  responsible,  not  for  the  place 
assigned  us  in  God's  providence ;  for  that  is  not  at  our  dis- 
posal ;  but  we  are  responsible  for  the  use  that  we  make  of 
the  talent  that  he  puts  within  our  reach.  This  parable  is 
meant  to  impress  upon  every  man  a  deep  and  solemn  sense 
of  responsibility.  It  is  a  most  solemn  thought,  that  the 
higher  a  man  is,  the  greater  is  his  responsibility.  I  know 
no  man  so  much  to  be  pitied,  and  needing  so  much  to  be 
27* 


318   •  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

prayed  for,  as  the  man  who  has  vast  genius,  and  transcen- 
dent talent,  but  who  unhappily  desecrates  that  talent  to  be  a 
ministry  of  sin,  instead  of  consecrating  that  talent  to  sub- 
serve the  cause  of  God,  and  the  happiness  of  mankind. 
Instead  of  envying  and  coveting  great  genius,  we  should 
often  thank  God  that  we  are  just  where  we  should  be,  and 
frequently  feel  that  what  He  expects  of  us  is,  not  to  try  to 
lift  ourselves  out  of  the  place  his  providence  has  put  us  in, 
but  to  turn  to  the  best  and  most  beneficent  account  the  tal- 
ents that  He  has  given  us  in  that  place  for  his  glory,  and 
for  the  service  of  mankind. 

The  parable  is  represented  by  an  earthly  lord  —  the 
word  "  lord  "  is  not  our  blessed  Redeemer,  but  the  master 
of  the  servants,  who  called  them  together,  and  gave  them 
their  talents.  The  story  is  told  in  its  completeness ;  the 
moral  is  drawn  at  the  close  of  it,  as  its  legitimate  corollary. 
The  servant  who  received  the  five  talents  turned  them  to 
good  account,  and  so  doubled  them.  That  implies  that 
whatever  a  man  has,  he  is  to  make  the  best  use  of  to  benefit 
others,  and  give  the  praise  unto  God.  To  another  he  gave 
two,  and  he  made  other  two  by  them.  To  another  he  gave 
one.  Here  is  sovereignty.  God  distributes  to  one  man 
wealth,  and  to  another  man  poverty.  He  does  not  tell  the 
man  who  has  two  talents  to  beg  for  five,  nor  the  man  who 
has  one  to  ask  for  two ;  nor  does  he  say  that  the  one  who 
has  two  should  produce  as  much  as  the  man  who  has  five. 
He  only  asks  for  the  vigorous  use  of  that  which  we  have, 
and  on  that  vigorous  and  prayerful  use  he  will  bestow  his 
blessing. 

But  the  man  who  had  one,  said,  "  I  cannot  buy  stock  with 
it ;  the  Savings  Bank  even  will  not  accept  of  it ;  it  is  utterly 
useless ;  I  will  just  wrap  it  up  in  a  napkin,  and  hide  it,  so 
that  it  shall  not  be  stolen ;  and  I  will  then  give  the  proprie- 
tor what  he  gave  me,  since  he  can  expect  nothing  more." 
But  it  matters  not  how  little  talent  you  have,  that  little  you 


MATTHEW   XXV.  319 

ai'e  bound  to  use.  Now,  a  great  many  people  think,  If  we 
were  only  elevated  to  that  position,  oh,  how  much  would  we 
do  for  the  circulation  of  the  Bible,  and  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel !  My  dear  friends,  if  you  can  do  nothing  as  servants, 
depend  upon  it  you  would  do  less  as  masters.  If  you  can 
do  little  for  Christ  with  100/.  a  year,  depend  upon  it,  you 
would  do  much  less  if  you  had  1,000/.  a  year.  It  is  not 
what  you  have,  but  what  you  are,  that  makes  the  mighty 
difference.  If  you  have  only  one  talent,  brighten  it  by 
using  it.  If  you  have  two,  double  them ;  if  you  have  five, 
double  them.  You  are  answerable  for  what  you  have,  not 
for  what  you  have  not.  But  what  you  have  you  are  answer- 
able for  turning  to  practical  accumulation  and  usefulness  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  amid  mankind. 

This  servant,  however,  tried  to  defend  himself;  and  it  is  a 
very  bad  cause  for  which  nothing  can  be  said.  He  answered 
his  master,  "  I  knew  thee  that  thou  art  an  hard  man,  reap- 
ing where  thou  hast  not  sown,  and  gathering  where  thou  hast 
not  strawed :  and  I  was  afraid,  and  went  and  hid  thy  talent 
in  the  earth  :  lo,  there  thou  hast  that  is  thine."  The  others 
did  not  regard  him  as  a  hard  master,  but  as  a  good  master. 
Think  of  God  as  your  Father  and  your  Benefactor,  and  you 
will  serve  him  joyously  as  children.  Think  of  God  as  a 
hard  taskmaster,  and  you  will  either  serve  him  as  slaves, 
or  you  will  give  up  serving  in  despair.  But  the  master 
replied  to  this  servant  in  the  way  he  deserved,  —  "  If  you 
knew  I  was  such,  instead  of  that  being  an  argument  against 
the  use  of  this  talent,  it  was  only  a  stronger  argument  for 
your  use  of  it.  If  you  feared  me,  you  ought  to  have  been 
more  diligent  in  turning  to  account  what  you  had.  In  fact, 
your  apology  aggravates  your  neglect.  You  had  better,  like 
the  man  without  the  wedding  garment,  have  been  altogether 
silent."  Whenever  a  man  commits  a  great  and  inexcusable 
fault,  if  he  attempts  to  explain  it  away,  he  only  makes  it 
worse. 


320  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

After  having  given  them  these  parables,  our  Lord  de- 
scribes a  scene  which  has  created  some  perplexity  amongst 
the  best  and  most  enlightened  commentators  as  to  who 
they  are  who  are  here  summoned  to  the  judgment-seat 
"  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the 
holy  angels  with  him."  Now,  mark,  it  is  said  in  the  32d 
verse,  "  Before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations."  It  is  in 
the  original  Greek,  "  all  rii  tdv?) "  —  all  the  Gentiles,  as  if 
there  were  indicated  a  distinction  between  the  Jews, 
whose  condition  and  destiny  have  been  explained  in  the 
previous  parables,  and  the  Gentiles,  whose  condition 
and  destiny  are  evolved  in  the  course  of  this  present 
statement.  But  in  all  these  nations  he  recognizes  only 
two  classes,  the  sheep  and  the  goats ;  those  who  are  his 
and  those  who  are  not.  "  He  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his 
righthand,"  that  is.  Christians,  "  but  the  goats,"  that  is  the 
figure  of  those  who  are  not,  "  on  the  left.  Then  shall  the 
King  say,"  —  presenting  himself  no  longer  as  the  Priest  in- 
terceding, or  the  Prophet  preaching,  but  as  the  King  ruling 
— "  unto  them  on  his  right  hand.  Come."  That  is  the  old 
phrase,  —  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy 
laden."  So  at  the  judgment-seat  it  is  still,  "  Come,  ye 
blessed."  Nearness  to  Christ  is  happiness  ;  the  nearer  you 
are,  the  happier  you  are.  Everlasting  heaven  is  everlasting 
approximation  to  the  infinitely  distant  centre  —  ever  near- 
ing  it,  your  happiness  increasing  at  every  stage  of  your 
progression  —  onward  and  upward  for  ever  and  ever. 
Hence,  heaven  is,  "  Come,  ye  blessed."  Hell  in  the  sequel 
is,  "  Depart,  ye  cursed."  Heaven,  approaching  Christ ; 
hell,  departure  from  Christ.  Then  He  calls  them  "  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,"  —  blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings 
—  therefore  children  —  blessed  of  the  Father.  And  then 
He  says,  "  Inherit," —  not  take  as  a  reward,  but  inherit.  A 
son  inherits  his  father's  property  and  title,  not  because  the 
son  is  virtuous  and  excellent,  but  because  he  is  the  son.    So, 


MATTHEW    XXV.  321 

while  we  must  be  virtuous,  good,  and  moral,  we  inherit 
heaven,  we  do  not  purchase  it.  We  inherit  it  as  sons,  whilst 
cotemporaneously  we  serve  God  as  his  servants  day  and 
night.  "Inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you,"  made 
ready  for  you.  Jesus  says,  "  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for 
you,  and  I  will  come  again."  Heaven  is  a  prepared  place 
for  a  prepared  people. 

Then  He  gives  them,  not  the  grounds  of  their  merit,  not 
the  grounds  of  their  title,  but  the  evidences  of  their  sonship. 
"  For  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat ; "  that  is 
not  the  ground  of  their  admission,  but  it  is  the  evidence  of 
their  title,  or  of  their  sonship,  and,  therefore,  of  their  being 
heirs.  "  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink."  Then  the 
righteous  shall  say,  "  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered, 
and  fed  thee  ?  or  thirsty,  and  gave  thee  drink  ?  "  Now,  I 
would  not  venture  to  speak  positively,  but  I  can  scarcely 
think  that  this  is  the  description  of  Christians ;  because 
when  a  Christian  gives  a  cup  of  cold  water,  he  does  it  in  the 
name  of  Christ ;  w^iatever  he  does,  he  does  for  Christ's  sake : 
therefore,  I  cannot  suppose  Christians  saying  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat, "  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  an  hungered,  and  fed 
thee  ? "  Every  Christian  on  reading  this  chapter  knows 
that  he  does  good  from  a  divine  impulse,  and  that  whether 
he  eats  or  drinks,  he  does  all  in  the  name  of  Christ.  And 
therefore  I  have  a  strong  impression  that  this  has  some 
reference  to  the  condition  of  the  heathen  who  never  heard 
the  Gospel,  and  that  there  may  positively  be  amongst  the 
heathen  those  who  have  been  touched  and  transformed  by 
divine  grace,  in  some  way  unknown  to  us,  but  who  have 
never  heard  the  joyful  sound,  nor  been  made  acquainted 
with  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Those  who  are  here  spoken  to 
saw  Christ  sick,  a  stranger,  and  hungry,  but  never  knew 
that  their  ministry  was  a  ministry  to  Him.  I  cannot  sup- 
pose that  a  false  humility  made  them  say  so.  Therefore,  it 
may  be  that   millions  of  poor  Mahometans  who  prostrate 


322  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

themselves  in  the  mosque,  and  millions  of  miserable  Hindoos, 
who  are  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  maj,  in  a 
way  and  by  means  that  we  know  not,  be  touched  and  trans- 
formed by  the  grace  of  God,  and  discover  in  the  last  day 
that  they  were  serving  Christ  when  they  knew  it  not ;  this,  I 
say,  is  possible.  So  also  with  regard  to  the  Jews.  I  have 
been  found  fault  with  for  a  sentiment  contained  in  a  sermon 
preached  on  this  very  subject,  in  which  I  said,  I  can  conceive 
some  Jews,  who  rejected  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  to  have  yet  in 
heart  relied  upon  Him,  the  Messiah,  and  to  find  themselves 
at  this  day  and  at  this  hour  to  have  unconsciously  believed 
on  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whilst  they  thought  they  were  be- 
lieving on  and  looking  for  another  Messiah  altogether. 
This  is  possible.  We  shall  find  in  heaven  many  that  we 
did  not  expect ;  and  we  may  miss  some  whom  we  did 
expect.  We  may  find  there  some  poor  and  lowly  monk 
with  the  crucifix  in  his  hand,  who  looked  beyond  the  cru- 
cifix, and  gloried  in  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  was  saved  by 
Jesus  Christ,  his  Sacrifice,  and  Priest,  and  King.  I  do  not 
pronounce  absolutely  where  my  argument  is  purely  inferen- 
tial ;  but  I  do  submit,  that  this  passage  cannot  describe 
enlightened  Christian  people,  but  must  have  reference  to 
some  who  are  found  at  the  judgment-day  to  have  been  min- 
istering to  Christ,  when  they  themselves  did  not  know  that 
they  were  so  ministering  on  earth,  and  in  the  presence  of 
God.  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least 
of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  And  here, 
my  dear  friends,  is  the  true  justification  of  our  sympathy 
with  all  that  suffer.  It  v/as  said  by  an  excellent  minister, 
the  other  day,  in  expressing  sympathy  with  the  persecuted 
in  Florence,  that  the  ground  of  our  sympathy  is,  "  I  was 
in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto  me."  We  cannot  visit  the  pro- 
scribed and  persecuted  Madiai,  who  are  in  the  estimate  of 
the  church  of  Rome  justly  imprisoned,  and  who  are  most 
canonically  dealt  with,  and  whose  gaoler,  if  I  may  apply 


MATTHEW    XXV.  323 

such  an  expression  to  a  royal  personage,  is  acting  most  con- 
sistently, —  and  I  only  wish  the  Protestants  would  act  as 
strictly  in  conformity  with  their  enlightened  principles  as 
the  Roman  Catholics  do  with  their  bigoted  ones,  —  we  can- 
not visit  the  Madlai,  but  the  least  we  can  do  is  to  sympa- 
thize with  them.  I  have  been  telling  you,  for  the  last 
fifteen  years,  that  all  this  persecution  is  perfectly  consistent, 
that  the  principles  that  have  punished  the  Madiai,  are  the 
inveterate  principles  of  the  church  of  Rome.  And  now, 
the  whole  continent  of  Europe  seems  to  become  more  and 
more  the  scene  of  exclusiveness  and  proscription ;  and  this 
isle  of  ours,  this  gem  on  the  bosom  of  the  deep,  seems  re- 
served to  be  the  last  retreat  of  freedom,  of  loyalty,  of  light, 
and  love ;  and  if  it  will  only  be  nationally  true  to  God,  it 
may  look  with  scorn  acro-ss  the  ocean  upon  the  whole  world, 
and  shout,  as  Martin  Luther  sung,  "  God  is  our  refuge  and 
strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble.  Therefore  will  not 
we  fear,  though  the  earth  be  removed,  and  though  the 
mountains  be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  though  the 
waters  thereof  roar  and  be  troubled,  though  the  mountains 
shake  with  the  swelling  thereof.  There  is  a  river,  the 
streams  whereof  shall  make  glad  the  city  of  God,  the  holy 
place  of  the  tabernacles  of  the  Most  High.  God  is  in  the 
midst  of  her,  she  shall  not  be  moved :  God  shall  help  her, 
and  that  right  early." 

But  one  word  more  upon  this  very  long  chapter ;  and  it 
is  the  intense  interest  of  these  chapters,  that  makes  me 
give  a  disproportionate  part  of  our  time  to  their  explana- 
tion ;  and  I  do  believe  that  such  explanation  is  at  least  as 
instructive  as  any  sermon  that  I  could  possibly  preach.  He 
shall  say  to  those  on  his  left,  —  "  Depart  from  me."  Now  I 
wish  you  to  mark  the  distinction.  The  first  address  is, 
"  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father ; "  the  second  is,  not, 
"  Depart,  ye  cursed  of  my  Father,"  but,  "  Depart  from  me, 
ye  cursed."     In  other  words,  there  is  here  election,  but  no 


324  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

reprobation.  There  is  here  a  choice  to  everlasting  life,  but 
there  is  here  no  decree  damning  any  man  to  everlasting 
perdition.  The  saved  are  blessed  of  God,  the  lost  are 
cursed  in  and  through  and  by  themselves.  Then  notice,  it 
is,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  ; "  but  when  he  addresses  the  lost,  it  is, 
"  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  pre- 
pared," not  for  you,  but  "for  the  devil  and  his  angels." 
Then,  hell  was  never  made  for  a  human  being ;  its  fire  does 
not  burn  for  a  single  soul.  No  man  was  made  to  go  to  hell. 
Hell  was  never  made  to  receive  any  man.  It  is  that  nook 
iij  the  universe  of  God,  that  aphelion,  that  infinite  distance 
from  all  the  light,  and  warmth,  and  love  of  Christ,  into  which 
men  plunge  themselves,  into  which  God  drives  and  forces 
no  human  being.  It  is,  therefore,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my 
Father,  into  a  kingdom  prepared  for  you."  It  is,  "  Depart 
from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels."  All  that  will  may  be  saved,  (let  the 
words  sound  with  every  wind,  and  be  wafted  on  every 
wave ! )  none  need  be  lost,  but  they  who  refuse  to  be 
saved. 

At  the  same  time,  let  me  state,  the  words  "  everlasting 
fire,"  are -just  the  correlative  of  everlasting  blessedness. 
Some  have  tried  to  argue  that  the  punishment  of  the  lost  is 
not  eternal ;  they  ought  to  argue  with  logical  consistency 
that  the  happiness  of  the  saved  is  not  eternal :  for  if  the 
one  is  not  eternal,  the  other  is  not  eternal.  But  I  cannot 
conceive  how  it  is  possible  to  imagine  that  the  lost  will  ever 
escape;  because  punishment  has  no  expiatory  virtue,  or 
purifying  power.  Unless  you  can  show  me  that  some  rain- 
bow will  span  the  darkness  of  the  lost,  that  some  interposi- 
tion of  an  angel  of  mercy  will  deliver  the  victims  of  hell,  I 
cannot  conceive  how  it  can  be  otherwise  than  that  hell  is 
just  as  eternal  as  heaven.  And  surely,  surely,  those  men 
called  Universalists,  (I  believe,  a  mischievous  and  deceiving 


MATTHEW    XXV.  -  325 

sect,)  would  do  far  better  by  telling  mankind  how  welcome 
they  are  to  enter  into  heaven,  and  by  showing  that  its  gates 
are  flung  wide  open,  than  by  trying  to  persuade  men  that 
they  need  neither  think  of  heaven,  nor  fear  hell ;  for  that 
there  is  only  a  purgatory  in  the  one  case,  that  is  sure  to  be 
a  vestibule  to  the  other.  Such  a  notion  is  unscriptural,  de- 
ceptive, and  ruinous.  It  is  impossible  for  a  plain  man  to 
read  God's  Word,  and  to  come  to  any  other  conclusion  than 
this  —  that  if  heaven  be  eternal,  hell  also  is  eternal ;  that 
if  the  joys  of  the  one  are  inexhaustible,  the  miseries  of  the 
other  are  inexhaustible  also. 

"  Unto  every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall 
have  abundance :  but  from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken 
away  even  that  which  he  hath."  In  other  words,  he  who 
uses  what  God  gives  him  for  the  highest  good  shall  find  it 
increase.  He  who  gives  most,  shall  find  by  blessed  experi- 
ence that  he  will  get  more.  The  law  of  the  Christian  • 
economy  is,  the  greatest  giver,  by  a  reflex  and  beautiful 
reaction,  shall  always  be  the  richest  receiver.  He,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  selfishly  keeps  what  he  has,  shall  find  what 
he  has  wither  in  his  possession.  In  the  Christian  economy 
monopoly  is  not  increase,  hoarding  is  not  having ;  saving 
for  oneself,  and  withholding  what  is  meet  from  others,  is  the 
way  to  lose  what  one  has,  and  to  do  no  good  to  those  who 
are  around  us. 

Let  me  set  this  before  you  in  four  distinct  points.  First, 
is  it  providential  plenty  that  you  have  —  not  affluence  — 
but  something  over  what  you  expend  ?  The  rich  man  is 
not  he  who  has  thousands  a-year,  but  he  who  at  the  year's 
end  has  a  little  over  his  expenditure.  He  who  has  100/.  a- 
year,  and  lives  at  90/.,  is  a  richer  man  than  he  who  has 
10,000/.  a-year,  and  lives  at  the  rate  of  12,000/.  or  15,000/. 
a-year.  I  estimate  riches  not  by  annual  receipts,  but  by 
the  surplus  that  you  have  after  paying  what  is  justly  due, 
and  enjoying,  in  your  sphere,  the  comforts  and  the  blessings 
28 


326  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  God  in  his  good  providence  is  pleased  to  bestow  upon 
you.  Well,  he  who  providentially  has,  and  gives  that  sur- 
plus to  good,  beneficent,  and  noble  ends,  shall,  if  there  be 
truth  in  the  promise  of  God,  have  more  abundantly;  and 
he,  on  the  other  hand,  who  takes  the  surplus,  and  accumu- 
lates the  whole,  —  not  simply  prepares  for  a  bad  day  upon 
a  fine  day,  or  lays  up  in  autumn  a  little  for  the  incidents  of 
a  severe  winter;  but  he  who  hoards  the  whole  surplus,  and 
lets  nothing  rush  over  for  the  benefit  and  the  blessing  of 
others,  —  he  shall  find  that  what  he  tries  to  save  he  is  sure 
to  lose,  and  that  what  he  thought  was  contributing  to  his 
growing  gain,  has  in  it  a  corroding  curse  that  will  end  in 
his  present,  it  may  be,  unless  altered,  his  everlasting  loss. 

In  order  to  appreciate  this  sentiment,  just  recollect  that 
all  you  have,  you  have  as  stewards.  No  man  upon  earth  is 
an  absolute  possessor.  Pie  may  say  in  his  pride,  "  Can  I 
not  do  what  I  like  with  mine  own  ?  "  but  when  he  says  so, 
he  forgets  that  he  is  not  his  own,  and  that  nothing  that  he 
has  is  his  own,  and  that  every  man,  from  the  highest  in  the 
land  to  the  humblest  by  the  way-side,  is  gifted  with  certain 
talents,  not  for  selfish  monopoly,  but  for  munificent  and  ex- 
tensive distribution.  Every  one,  therefore,  who  has  some- 
thing to  spare,  and  gives  of  that  something  to  others,  will 
find  that  next  year  he  will  have  more  to  spare.  But  every 
one  who  has  something  to  spare,  but  determines  not  to  spare 
it,  but  to  absorb  it  for  his  own  selfish  purposes,  will  find  next 
year  that  he  has  much  less  to  spare. 

God  gives  to  you,  and  expects  from  you  a  tax.  You 
know  that  in  this  land  every  man  has  to  pay  the  income 
tax,  —  that  is,  we  are  allowed  to  earn  our  profits  and  to  get 
our  wages,  on  condition  that  we  contribute  a  certain  per- 
centage to  the  purposes  of  the  state,  for  the  carrying  on  of 
its  machinery,  and  the  maintenance  of  our  national  inde- 
pendence, strength,  and  usefulness.  That  is  what  is  ex- 
pected from  you,  because  you  are  protected  in  the  enjoy 


MATTHEW    XXV.  327 

ment  of  your  gains.  Well,  the  income  tax  that  God  expects 
from  all  to  whom  he  gives,  is  that  of  beneficence  to  those 
who  need  it.  Wherever,  therefore,  there  is  a  poor  man  in 
want,  there  there  is  a  voice  reminding  you  that  the  condi- 
tion of  your  having,  is  the  duty  of  paying  the  income  tax 
of  Christian  beneficence.  And  this  income  tax  is  imposed 
so  justly,  so  impartially,  so  considerately,  that  every  one 
who  receives  is  expected  to  give,  not  according  to  what 
he  hath  not,  but  exactly  and  precisely  according  to  what 
he  has. 

Now,  this  income  tax,  or  giving  of  your  surplus  to  pur- 
poses of  Christian  beneficence,  is  your  recognition  of  God  as 
the  supreme  Proprietor,  and  your  admission  of  yourselves 
as  beneficiaries  under  him,  distributors  of  what  he  gives, 
stewards  and  servants  of  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  Now  if  you  thus  act  in  the  sight  of  God,  what  is 
the  result  ?  That  you  shall  not  only  have,  but  you  shall 
have  abundance.  Well,  now,  here  is  a  statement,  and  some 
of  you  can  attest  its  truth,  that  you  shall  have  abundance 
often  in  kind.  There  is,  says  the  Wise  Man,  that  scatters, 
that  is,  gives  away  freely,  and  yet  increases.  Now,  just  look 
round  upon  the  most  beneficent  men,  whose  names  are  in 
our  lists  of  charities  —  spiritual  and  temporal  —  and  you 
will  find  that  they  are  the  richest  men.  By  a  law  that  the 
world  cannot  explain,  but  that  the  Bible  casts  light  upon,  he 
who  gives  away  most  profusely  in  a  right  cause,  stands 
before  the  world  as  the  man  who  receives  most  liberally 
from  the  Giver  of  all  that  is  good.  And  if  he  receive  not  in 
kind  more  abundance,  he  shall  have  it  in  another  respect,  he 
shall  have  it  in  value.  AVhen  God  says  you  shall  have 
abundance,  that  does  not  imply  that  if  you  give  away  a 
sovereign  you  shall  have  two,  although  that  is  often  the  case  ; 
or  that  if  you  give  away  5/.,  you  will  find  that  instead  of 
being  5Z.  poorer,  you  are  20Z.  richer ;  but  very  often  He 
gives  the  compensation  not  in  kind,  but  in  value ;  and  that 


328  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

value  is  an  inner  feeling  that  the  coarse  and  vulgar  mind 
of  the  carnal  man  never  can  appreciate  and  understand. 
The  inner  peace,  the  reaction  of  outer  beneficence,  is  a 
grand  and  noble  compensation  for  the  greatest  sacrifice  we 
make.  Make  the  experiment.  Give  to  some  poor  person 
you  know  to  be  truly  so ;  bestow  on  some  cause  that  you 
believe  to  be  truly  claimant,  and  you  yourselves  must  find, 
that  just  as  sure  as  when  a  fire-arm  is  discharged  there  is  a 
rebound,  so  sure  when  that  donation  is  given  to  that  which 
is  right  and  claimant,  there  is  a  reaction  of  peace,  repose, 
and  satisfaction  in  your  heart,  that  is  worth  ten  times  the 
amount  you  ever  gave  away  in  your  life.  That  is  not  merit : 
it  is  only  the  light  that  accompanies  the  deed,  the  blessing 
that  God  bestows  upon  beneficence,  the  happiness  that  is 
tasted  in  the  discharge  of  conscientious  and  sacred  duty. 
"  For  God,"  it  is  said,  "  is  not  unrighteous  to  forget  your 
work  and  labor  of  love,  which  ye  have  showed  toward  his 
name."  And  He  speaks  not  only  of  the  living,  but  of  the 
dead,  —  "Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord 
from  henceforth ;  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest 
from  their  labors  ;  and  their  works  do  folloAV  them  "  —  not, 
mark  you,  precede  them  as  claimants  for  their  reward,  but 
follow  them  —  the  shining  train  of  witnesses  to  their 
Christian  character. 

But  now  look  at  the  obverse  of  this,  "  From  him  that 
hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath ; " 
that  is,  he  who  has  property,  but  has  not  the  heart  to  make 
a  beneficent  and  Christian  use  of  it,  from  that  man  shall  be 
taken  away  the  little  that  he  has.  I  take  as  the  proof  of  this 
the  miser.  How  often  do  you  find  that  his  wealth  melts 
away  the  more  he  toils  to  amass  and  accumulate  it ;  and 
you  will  find  invariably,  that  the  passion  for  accumulating 
grows  far  faster  than  the  process  of  accumulating  increases, 
till  the  more  that  a  man  accumulates,  the  more  he  wants, 
and  the  less  is  his  satisftiction  with  that  which  he  has  been 


MATTHEW  XXV.  329 

able  to  accumulate.  You  will  find  that  the  man  who  gives 
has  the  reaction  of  joy  after  he  has  given ;  but  the  man 
who  hoards  finds  the  passion  for  having  outgrown  the  pos- 
sibility of  possessing  so  rapidly,  that  after  he  has  accumu- 
lated hundreds  of  thousands,  his  thirst  is  so  strong,  that  he 
feels ,  he  has  got  but  a  drop  instead  of  a  river,  a  cupful 
instead  of  an  ocean.  And  hence,  avarice  carries  into  its 
own  bosom  its  own  corroding  curse.  The  profligate 
is  a  pitiful  sight,  but  I  question  if  the  hoarding,  miser- 
able, avaricious  miser  be  not  a  more  wretched  and  hor- 
rible spectacle  before  heaven  and  earth  than  he.  At 
all  events,  he  is  an  instance  and  a  proof  of  ever  accumu- 
lating, yet  never  having.  And  so  singular  is  that  execrable 
passion,  that  at  last  we  find  men  accumulate  as  the  hairs 
grow  grey,  and  the  heart  begins  to  beat  its  last  funeral 
march,  and  one  foot  is  almost  in  the  grave,  —  unable  to  let 
go  their  only  god  upon  earth,  even  when  they  are  just 
about  to  appear  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  What  a 
horrible  passion  is  that !  How  shoidd  we  guard  against 
it !  The  young  are  prone  to  squander,  the  aged  are 
passionately  prone  to  amass.  As  if  God  would  teach  us 
how  fallen  we  are,  in  youth,  when  accumulating  would  be 
most  useful,  we  are  prone  to  squander;  and  in  old  age, 
when  giving  would  be  most  natural,  we  are  prone  to  accu- 
mulate,—  both  youth  and  age  teaching  us  not  to  set  our 
hearts  upon  the  brightest  gold,  but  only  upon  Him  who 
gives  the  gold  its  currency,  and  the  heart  its  grace,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

Apply,  in  the  next  place,  the  text  to  gifts.  Have  you  a 
vigorous  understanding,  an  informed  and  instructed  mind  ? 
I  do  not  speak  of  Christian  graces,  but  of  natural  gifts. 
Whatever  your  gift  be,  you  are  not  warranted  in  suffering 
it  to  rust.  If  I  did  not  use  my  hand,  I  should  soon  lose  the 
power  of  using  it.  A  muscle  never  exerted  Icses  soon  its 
28* 


330  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

vigor  and  its  strength.  A  gift  never  used  ceases  very  soon 
to  be  a  gift  at  all.  Hoard  your  wheat  in  the  granary,  and 
either  it  will  rot,  or  it  will  lie  dead  ;  but  scatter  it  in  the  fur- 
rows of  the  earth,  and  it  will  grow  up  into  rich  and  glorious 
harvests.  Lock  up  your  gold  in  your  coffers,  and  it  will 
either  lie  dead,  or  oxidize  and  decay ;  but  fling  it  into  the 
market  of  trade,  or  in  the  place  of  beneficence  and  charity, 
and  then  the  solitary  coin  will  become  a  shining  group,  and 
you  will  find  that  he  that  has  shall  receive  more  abundantly, 
and  that  he  that  has  not  shall  lose  and  part  with  that  which 
he  has.  So,  my  dear  friends,  whatever  gift  you  have  —  if 
there  be  a  place  where  you  can  speak  a  word  for  the  right, 
the  good,  the  true,  be  it  the  Sunday-school,  the  njissionary 
platform,  the  pulpit,  the  parliament,  you  have  no  right  from 
God  to  be  silent.  The  gift  which  he  has  given  you,  however 
feeble,  is  for  use.  Use  it  not,  and  it  will  decay.  Use  it, 
and  it  will  be  invigorated.  And  I  venture  to  assert  that  no 
man  ever  did  a  Christian  act,  or  spoke  a  word  for  the  right, 
the  true,  the  good,  who  did  not  find  next  year  that  he  was 
able  to  speak  two,  the  next  three,  and  that  the  gift  grew  in 
power  and  in  vigor  the  oftener  that  he  used  it  in  God's 
service,  and  in  the  cause  of  his  fellow-creatures.  Thus 
it  is  that  if  we  have  gifts,  they  will  grow  with  use ;  if  we 
allow  them  to  remain  unused,  they  will  become  torpid,  and 
decay. 

Take,  in  the  next  place.  Christian  privileges.  We  have 
all  of  us  very  great  privileges.  I  know  not  a  nation,  with 
all  its  faults,  so  blessed  as  ours.  I  know  not  a  people,  with 
all  their  sins,  and  with  all  their  grounds  of  complaint,  so 
favored.  Some  are  constantly  grumbling.  It  is  a  pity 
that  they  have  not  a  year's  residence  as  subjects  of  the 
Grand  Duke,  or  that  they  are  not  placed  in  some  land 
where  they  would  know  what  our  national  mercies  are  by 
their  absence,  or  by  positive  resistance  to  every  feeling  of 


MATTHEW    XXV.  331 

freedom,  of  religion,  and  of  love.  Now,  in  this  land  having 
great  privileges,  what  does  that  teach  us  ?  That  if  we  use 
them,  we  shall  have  them  more  abundantly;  if  we  allow 
them  to  pass  by  misused,  even  those  that  we  have  shall  be 
taken  away  from  us. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  PASSOVER  —  ENMITY  OF  PRIESTS — PRECIOUS  PERFUME  POURED 
ON  THE  HEAD  OF  JESUS  —  RICH  AND  POOR  —  PROPHECY  OF 

BETRAYAL THE  LORD's   SUPPER  —  TRANSUBSTANTIATION  

THE  AGONY PRAYER. 

It  appears  from  the  commencement  of  tlie  chapter,  that 
the  period  of  the  Passover,  the  great  anniversary  festi- 
val of  the  Jews,  had  arrived ;  and  that  Jesus,  to  fulfil  all 
righteousness,  and  to  make  that  Passover  the  preface  to  a 
yet  more  precious  festival,  said  to  his  disciples  —  "  Ye  know 
that  after  two  days  is  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  and  the  Son 
of  man  is  betrayed  to  be  crucified."  His  death  did  not  come 
upon  him  by  surprise ;  he  anticipated  it  every  hour ;  he 
knew  that  it  must  be,  and  made  ready  for  that  great  sacri- 
fice, in  which  is  the  remission  of  our  sins. 

It  appears  next,  that  the  chief  priests,  and  the  scribes, 
and  the  elders  of  the  people,  "  assembled  together  unto  the 
palace  of  the  high-priest,  who  was  called  Caiaphas,  and 
consulted  that  they  might  take  Jesus  by  subtlety  and  kill 
him."  What  a  terrible  apostasy  was  here !  The  high- 
priest,  the  type,  did  not  recognize  the  true  High-Priest,  the 
great  substance  of  all  the  institutions,  types,  and  shadows  of 
the  ancient  law  ;  but,  instead  of  hailing  him  as  the  advent  of 
that  which  he  typified,  he  joined  with  other  conspirators 
amongst  the  Jews,  in  putting  him  to  death,  as  if  he  could 
extinguish  that  precious  truth,  by  which  the  whole  earth  is 
yet  destined  to  be  enlighten'^.d. 


MATTHEW   XXVI.  333 

It  appears  that  at  this  season  Jesus  was  in  Bethany,  in 
the  house  of  Simon,  who  once  was  a  leper,  but  afterwards 
was  healed ;  and  a  woman,  recognizing  him  as  he  who 
should  come  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  brought  "  an  alabaster 
box  of  very  precious  perfume,"  as  it  ought  to  be  rendered, 
"  and  poured  it  on  his  head  as  he  sat  at  meat."  She  did  it, 
not  because  this  could  consecrate  him,  but  because  this  was 
the  only  expression  thai  she  possessed  adequate  to  convey 
the  intensity  of  her  love,  attachment,  and  devotedness  to 
Jesus.  Some  of  the  disciples,  partaking  of  the  false  economy 
that  prevails  in  every  age,  could  not  understand  that  things 
that  seem  entirely  ornamental  are  often  useful,  and  with  a 
narrow-mindedness  which  characterized  them  in  too  many  of 
their  own  proceedings  before  the  day  of  Pentecost,  they 
said  —  "  To  what  purpose  is  this  waste  ?  For  this  ointment 
might  have  been  sold  for  much,  and  given  to  the  poor."  So 
it  might ;  but  it  would  be  found  that  this  woman,  who  thus 
expressed  her  love  to  Jesus,  would  be  among  the  very  fore- 
most to  express  her  sympathy  with  the  poor ;  and  thus  they 
who  clamor  most  about  the  demands  of  the  poor  often  least 
express  their  sympathy  by  practical  goodness  and  liberality. 
Benevolence  expressed  in  words  is  one  thing ;  beneficence 
contained  in  acts  is  a  very  different,  and  far  more  precious 
thing. 

"  Ye  have  the  poor,"  he  says,  "  always  with  you."  Then 
plainly  the  distinction  between  rich  and  poor  is  part  and 
parcel  of  the  providential  arrangement  of  the  present  world. 
You  may  mitigate,  but  you  never  can  extinguish  poverty. 
It  seems  to  me  that  as.  this  world  is,  there  will  be  hills  and 
valleys,  high  places  and  lowly  places,  rich  and  poor,  learned 
and  ignorant  to  the  end.  But  why  is  one  man  rich  and 
another  man  poor  ?  That  the  rich  man  may  see  the  duty 
of  beneficence,  and  that  the  poor  man,  receiving  that 
beneficence,  may  feel  the  ennobling  emotion  of  gratitude 
and  love. 


334  scRirxuRE  readings. 

Jesus  explains  to  them  —  "  For  in  that  she  hath  poured 
this  ointment  on  my  body,  she  did  it  for  my  burial.  Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  Wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached 
in  the  whole  world,  there  shall  also  this,  that  this  woman 
hath  done,  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her."  Jesus,  then  a 
sufferer,  thus  predicts  the  everlasting  spread  and  universal 
triumph  of  his  Gospel.  What  calmness,  composure,  and 
certainty  of  ultimate  triumph  !•  And  here  also  indirectly 
there  is  evidence  that  this  Gospel  was  to  be  written ;  be- 
cause the  fact  that  this  memorial  was  to  be  told  in  every 
land  and  through  the  lapse  of  every  age,  conveys  the  fact 
that  a  record  of  it  was  to  be,  from  which  the  intimation  of 
her  love  should  be  spread  to  all  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

Judas  Iscariot  went  to  the  chief  priests,  and  covenanted 
to  betray  Jesus  for  about  SI.  or  4/.  sterling ;  "  and  from  that 
time  he  sought  opportunity  to  betray  him."  That  opportu- 
nity soon  presented  itself. 

The  Passover  was  then  prepared  according  to  the  Jewish 
economy,  only  Jesus  specially  prescribed  the  place,  and  pre- 
dicted the  response  that  would  be  made  to  the  disciples 
when  they  asked  for  a  house  in  which  to  celebrate  the  feast. 
We  have  the  record  of  the  Passover,  and  of  the  institution 
of  the  Eucharist,  or  1  .ord's  Supper,  upon  it.  First,  it  was 
celebrated  at  even :  it  was  celebrated  on  the  night  prior  to 
his  betrayal.  Secondly,  it  was  celebrated  by  the  twelve, 
according  to  the  Evangelist,  sitting  down.  It  may  have 
been  that  they  leant  each  upon  the  left  elbow,  or  that  they 
literally  sat,  but  certainly  it  was  celebrated  in  the  form  of  a 
festival  meal,  and  not  with  the  special  and  distinctive  ac- 
companiments of  an  act  of  adoration,  worship,  and  praise. 
I  state  these  things,  not  to  find  fault  with  others,  but  to 
show  that  while  the  ceremonial  changes  like  the  varied 
clouds  that  are  above  us,  the  great  truth  that  is  beyond  it 
endures  like  the  stars,  bright  and  permanent  for  ever. 
Those  who  insist  upon  every  thing  being  rigidly  according 


MATTHEW    XXVI.  335 

to  apostolic  precedent,  are  bound  to  celebrate  the  Lord's 
Supper  at  night,  and  sitting,  not  kneeling  ;  or  probably  still 
more,  to  celebrate  it  leaning  upon  the  left  elbow.  These 
things  are  the  mere  accompanimefats,  or  the  form ;  they  are 
not  the  substance.  We  have  each  our  preferences ;  but 
when  that  preference,  as  it  relates  to  form,  is  exalted  into  a 
vital  principle,  then  we  leave  Scripture,  or  Protestant 
ground,  and  go  over  to  Popish,  or  superstitious  ground. 
We  may  prefer,  as  in  the  Church  of  England,  to  receive 
the  communion  kneeling ;  or,  as  in  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
sitting,  —  Scottish  Churchmen  thinking  that  they  have  the 
most  scriptural  precedent,  English  Churchmen  thinking  that 
kneeling  most  becomes  them  as  engaging  in  an  act  of  sol- 
emn devotion ;  only  remember  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is 
neither  sitting,  nor  kneeling,  nor  standing,  but  righteousness, 
and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Jesus  predicted  —  "  One  of  you  shall  betray  me."  What 
a  startling  announcement!  One  of  you,  my  favorite  twelve, 
my  own  selected  apostle,  the  little  college  in  which  I  have 
lived,  where  I  have  taught,  with  whom  I  have  sympathized, 
to  whose  weaknesses  and  ignorances  I  have  ministered,  — 
one  of  you  shall  betray  me. 

And  then  notice,  every  one  of  the  eleven,  as  we  gather 
from  the  passage,  suspected  himself,  before  Judas,  the 
guilty  one.  What  a  remarkable  proof  is  this  of  the  deli- 
cacy of  true  Christian  feeling,  that  the  most  suspicious  of 
themselves  were  the  innocent,  that  the  most  satisfied  in  his 
own  mind,  at  least  the  most  silent,  was  the  only  guilty  one ! 
Each  of  the  eleven  said  —  "Is  it  I?"  and  in  the  25th 
verse  we  read,  that  after  an  interval  — "  Then  Judas, 
which  betrayed  him,  answered  and  said,  Master,  is  it  I  ? " 
Thus,  true  Christians  may  suspect  themselves ;  they  may 
doubt  their  own  persistency  in  well-doing;  they  may  sus- 
pect their  own  love.  That  does  not  prove  that  they  are 
not  true  Christians,  but  the  contrary.     Wherever  there  is 


336  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  loftiest  ideal  of  the  Christian  standard,  there  will  be  the 
greatest  and  most  constant  suspicions  lest  we  fail,  and  come 
not  up  to  it. 

Our  Lord  told  Judas  —  "  Thou  hast  said,"  which  expres- 
sion denotes  in  Scripture  —  "  It  is  so."  And  then  — 
"Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed  it,"  —  in  another  Gospel 
it  is,  "  and  gave  thanks  "  —  "  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to 
the  disciples,  and  said.  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body."  How 
very  simple  is  this !  Just  read  the  statement  contained  in 
the  Roman  Missal,  with  all  its  rubrics,  its  forms,  and  cere- 
monies ;  and  after  you  have  done  so,  read  the  severe  and 
simple  statement  contained  in  the  chapter  w^e  have  read ; 
and  then'  say  whether,  if  the  Missal  be  Christianity,  the 
record  in  this  chapter  be  not  something  else.  The  two  are 
not  in  the  least  connected  the  one  with  the  other.  They 
seem  to  be  contrasts,  and  in  no  respect,  as  far  as  I  can  see, 
coincident  at  all.  Here  you  have  twelve  poor  apostles 
assembled  together,  with  Jesus  in  the  midst.  You  have  him 
taking  a  piece  of  bread,  and  breaking  it  after  he  had  blessed 
it,  and  giving  it  to  them,  and  bidding  them  eat  it,  as  we  are 
told  by  the  apostle,  in  remembrance  of  him.  There  can  be 
no  ground,  that  I  can  see,  for  the  monstrous  dogma  of  Tran- 
substantiation.  It  Avould  never  strike  an  honest,  impartial, 
unprepossessed  reader  of  this  passage,  that  when  Jesus  said 
these  words,  the  bread  ceased  to  have  the  properties  of 
bread,  and  became  literally  and  truly  the  very  flesh  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  How  could  it  be  so  ?  The  apostles  saw  him 
sitting  at  table  beside  them.  If  this  bread  became  himself, 
there  must  have  been  two  selves,  and  the  veritable  and  real 
humanity  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  most  precious  truth  in  the 
Gospel,  is  thus  destroyed.  Then,  in  the  Missal  it  is  said 
that  the  words,  "  This  is  my  body,"  are  the  words  that,  like 
the  utterance  of  a  spell,  transform  the  bread  into  the  flesh, 
and  the  wine  into  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  But  you 
will  notice  that  the  apostles  had  eaten  it  before  these  words 


MATTHEAV    XXVI.  337 

were  pronounced  ;  and  therefore,  it  cannot  have  been  turned 
into  iiesh  beibre  they  partook  of  it.  And  again,  the  words 
are  declarative,  not  creative.  He  did  not  say,  "  Let  this 
bread  be  turned  into  my  body."  When  he  created  light,  he 
said,  "Let  there  be  light;"  but  when  he  used  a  figure,  he 
said,  "  This  is  my  body."  And  again,  suppose  that  Jesus 
did  transubstantiate  the  bread  and  wine  into  tiesh  and  blood, 
it  Avould  not  follow  that  a  priest  can  do  it:  Jesus  said,  "  Let 
there  be  light,  and  there  was  light,"  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  a  priest  can  create  light.  Therefore,  even  if  Jesus  had 
said,  "  Let  this  bread  be  turned  into  my  body,"  it  does  not 
follow  that  a  priest  can  do  it.  The  apostles  were  there  as 
Christians,  not  as  ministers.  And  again,  the  phrase  is  so 
common  in  Scripture,  that  one  is  surprised  that  it  should  be 
so  perverted.  I  have  counted,  I  think,  fifty  passages  in  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  where  this  very  phrase  occurs, 
and  ill  forty-nine  of  them  the  Church  of  Rome  accepts  the 
figurative  interpretation ;  but  in  the  fiftieth,  in  order  to  sup- 
port a  monstrous  dogma,  she  takes  the  words  literally,  or 
rather  carnally. 

But  to  take  the  very  illustration  suggested  by  the  pas- 
sage. When  in  the  ancient  Passover  the  ofiiciating  person 
celebrated  it,  and  distributed  the  roasted  flesh  of  a  lamb  to 
the  people,  he  said,  "  This  is  the  Lord's  Passover."  Well, 
what  did  the  Jew  understand  by  this  ?  Unquestionably,  he 
understood,  "  This  flesh  which  we  now  eat  commemorates 
the  angel  flying  through  Egypt,  killing  the  first-born  of 
Pharaoh,  and  sparing  the  first-born  of  Israel."  In  other 
words,  every  Jew  understood  by  "  This  is  the  Lord's  Pass- 
over," not  the  literal  transubstantiation  of  the  slain  lamb 
into  an  angel  flying  through  Egypt,  but  the  commemoration 
of  the  angel's  sparing  them  celebrated  by  the  Jew  at  that 
great  festival.  In  that  sense  our  Lord  used  the  words, 
*'  This  is  my  body."  So  again,  in  Rev.  i.  20,  "  The  seven 
candlesticks  which  thou  sawest  are  the  seven  churches ; " 
29 


338  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

that  is,  represent,  not  are  turned  into,  the  seven  churches, 
So  again,  "  That  Rock  was  Christ ;  "  that  is,  represented, 
not  was  transubstantiated  into,  Christ.     And  again,  "  Thou, 

0  king,  art  that  head  of  gold ; "  that  is,  the  head  of  gold 
symbolizes  thee.  And  many  other  passages  will  readily 
occur  to  you,  where  this  figurative  phraseology  is  employed. 

1  may  say  that  it  is  not  correct  to  state,  as  some  have 
done,  that  in  the  Syriac  and  Hebrew  languages  there  are  no 
words  corresponding  to  the  word  "  represent."  Dr.  Wise- 
man has  conclusively  shown  that  there  are  plenty  of  such 
words.  But  we  assert,  that  it  is  the  Hebrew  usage  to  say 
that  a  thing  is  something  else,  when  it  is  only  meant  that  it 
represents  that  something  else. 

He  then  "  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to 
them,  saying.  Drink  ye  all  of  it."  Now,  how  singular  is 
the  interpretation  of  these  words  by  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which  is  such  a  stickler  for  the  literal  version  in  the  preced- 
ing passage  !  The  w^ords  are  not,  "  Drink  ye  of  it,"  but, 
"  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  "  and  yet  no  layman  or  priest,  except 
the  officiating  one,  is  allowed  to  drink  of  the  wine  in  the 
Church  of  Rome.  She  is  most  absurdly  literal,  when  she 
wants  to  establish  a  monstrous  dogma ;  but  when  you  come 
to  another  part,  she  is  most  transcendently  figurative. 
When  you  ask  why  ?  then  the  old  scholastic  metaphysical 
distinctions  come  in,  and  you  are  told  that  the  bread  being 
changed  into  the  body,  the  blood  must  be  there.  But  our 
Lord  tells  them  not  only  to  "  eat,"  but  to  ■'  drink  ;  "  there- 
fore the  eating  of  the  bread  cannot  imply  the  drinking  of 
the  wine.  *'  Drink  ye  all  of  it.  For  this  is  my  blood  of 
the  new  testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins." 

And,  to  show  that  no  transubstantiation  took  place,  he 
says,  "  I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine." 
He  calls  it,  you  observe,  the  "  fruit  of  the  vine  "  after  it 
was  consecrated.     So,  the  Apostle  Paul,  in  the  Epistle  to 


MATTHEW    XX VI.  339 

the  Corinthians,  says,  "As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and 
drink  this  cup,"  after  the  act  which,  according  to  the  Church 
of  Rome,  transubstantiates  the  one  into  the  body,  and  the 
other  into  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  But  again,  how 
very  monstrous  that  idea  is  will  be  seen  from  this  that  the 
apostle  says,  "  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me."  Now  what 
does  memory  relate  to  ?  Certainly  to  the  absent,  not  to  the 
present.  Jesus  is  present  in  the  midst  of  two  or  three  met 
in  his  name,  spiritually,  but  he  is  absent  personally ;  for  it  is 
said,  "  Whom  the  heaven  must  receive  until  the  times  of 
restitution  of  all  things."  Acts  iii.  21.  Spiritually,  Jesus  is 
as  truly  in  the  midst  of  two  or  three  Christians  met  to 
worship  him,  as  at  the  communion  table.  There  is  no  dis- 
tinction in  that  respect.  To  use  the  expression  of  the  head 
of  the  Romanists  in  this  country,  there  is  no  intenser  pres- 
ence of  Christ  at  the  communion  table  than  there  is  where 
two  or  three  are  met  in  his  name. 

But  you  will  never  understand  the  Romish  system,  until 
you  understand  the  Millennial  Church  ;  for  it  is  an  attempt 
to  forestall  the  splendor  and  the  greatness  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  when,  not  the  pretended  vicar,  but  Christ  himself 
shall  appear,  and  take  the  glory,  and  reign  personally,  as 
he  now  acts  spiritually,  in  the  midst  of  his  believing, 
beloved,  and  redeemed  people. 

Then,  after  this  celebration,  it  is  said,  "  When  they  had 
sung  an  hymn,  they  went  out  into  the  mount  of  Olives." 
The  hymn  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  Psalms  —  from  the 
116th,  probably,  to  the  118th  Psalm.  They  sung  the 
hymn,  it  is  said.  That  shows  that  singing  is  part  and  parcel 
of  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary.  Everybody  ought  to  learn 
to  sing  God's  praise,  just  as  he  ought  to  learn  to  read  God's 
Word. 

Then  Jesus  told  them,  "  All  ye  shall  be  offended  because 
of  me  ; "  and  he  quotes  the  Scripture  prophecy  that  illus- 
trates it,  "  I  will  smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  of  the 


340  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

flock  shall  be  scattered  abroad."  And  then,  with  all  the 
calmness  and  the  composure  of  One  who  knew  the  end,  as 
well  as  the  beginning,  he  adds,  "  After  I  am  risen  again,  I 
will  go  before  you  into  Galilee." 

Then  Peter,  ever  first  to  smite,  and  first  to  speak  ;  and 
alas !  before  the  day  of  Pentecost,  first  to  forsake  and  deny 
his  Master,  adds  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  "  Though 
all  men  shall  be  offended  because  of  thee,  yet  will  I  never  be 
offended."  Jesus  then  predicts  that  Peter  would  be  the 
very  first  to  be  so. 

After  that  we  read,  that  he  came  to  the  garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  and  said  to  the  disciples,  "  Sit  ye  here,  while  I  go 
and  pray  yonder."  And  in  this  garden  we  have  a  proof  of 
the  true  humanity  of  our  blessed  Lord.  He  said,  "  My  soul 
is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death."  The  weight  and 
pressure  of  the  burden  of  a  world's  sins  were  on  him.  Jesus 
was  truly  and  intensely  man  ;  he  was  literally  and  strictly 
God.  You  have  him  here  the  Man  of  sorrows,  steeped  in 
grief,  bearing  the  load  and  pressure  of  the  sins  of  all  that 
believe,  and  so  shrinking  from  the  terrible  agony  of  to- 
morrow, that  he  cries,  in  language  most  awful  and  piercing, 
"  O  my  Father,"  not  losing  his  Sonship,  "  if  it  be  possible," 
—  but  it  was  not  possible  —  "  let  this  bitter  cup  that  I  am 
now  about  to  drink  pass  from  me:  nevertheless,"  he  adds,  "not 
as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt."  May  not  we  so  pray  too  ? 
Are  you  placed  in  painful  and  afflicting  trials  ?  Are  you  a 
mother,  expecting  the  death  of  a  babe,  your  first-born  ?  Are 
you  anticipating  something  to-morrow  painful  and  dreadful, 
and  that  you  believe  will  crush  you  almost  to  the  earth  ? 
Then,  you  may  pray,  and  ought  to  pray,  "  Father,  if  it  be 
possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me."  It  is  human  nature  so 
to  pray ;  it  is  not  forbidden  by  the  Christian  character  so  to 
pray.  But  if  you  have  the  Christian  heart,  as  well  as  the 
human  one,  you  will  be  able  to  add,  however  bitter  it  may 
be,  "  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt." 


MATTHEW    XXVI.  341 

He  then  repeats  the  words.  Some  have  said  that  it  is 
wj-ong  to  repeat  prayer,  because  Christ  condemns  endless 
repetitions.  But  here  we  have  prayer  repeated.  And 
wherever  there  is  the  deepest  feeling,  there  will  be  the  repe- 
tition of  the  same  thing.  The  simplest  words  and  the  intens- 
est  thoughts  oft  repeated  are  generally  the  evidence  of  real 
feeling,  and  of  fervent  prayer. 

But,  how  sad  !  The  disciples,  it  is  said,  all  slept.  They 
were,  probably,  wearied  with  their  watchfulness  and  sorrow ; 
for  when  there  is  deep  grief,  there  often  follows  it  deep 
sleep.  Jesus  gently  remonstrated  with  them,  and  said,  "  Sleep 
on  now,  and  take  your  rest  :  behold,  the  hour  is  at  hand, 
and  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners." 
Does  that  permit  sleeping  on  ?  No  ;  it  means.  Sleep,  if 
you  can ;  but  I  know  you  cannot,  therefore,  rise,  let  us  be 
going :  behold  he  is  at  hand  that  doth  betray  me." 

Judas  the  traitor,  who  betrayed  him,  and  who  forgot  alike 
the  gratitude  that  he  should  have  felt,  the  duties  that  he 
owed,  and  the  dignity  of  the  apostleship  that  he  wore,  made 
the  symbol  of  friendship  the  sign  of  his  betrayal,  —  betray- 
ing the  Son  of  man  with  a  kiss.  We  read  next  of  the 
mildness  of  Jesus,  expressing  no  indignation,  as  human 
nature  might  well  have  felt,  but  remonstrating  in  the  lan- 
guage of  faithful,  almost  affectionate,  rebuke,  —  "  Friend, 
wherefore  art  thou  come?"  As  much  as  to  say,  "I  am  not 
surprised,  but  you  ought  to  be  surprised  to  find  yourself  in 
,  the  awful  position  of  a  traitor,  and  a  betrayer  of  the  Son  of 
God." 

Peter  struck  off  the  ear  of  the  servant  of  the  high-priest ; 
hereby  showing  that  the  passions  of  the  natural  man  were 
not  altogether  subdued  and  mitigated,  as  they  ought  to  have 
been,  by  the  grace  of  the  converted  or  the  Christian  man. 
Persecution  is  more  or  less  a  passion  common  to  humanity. 
When  man  cannot  conquer  by  argument,  it  is  too  truly 
human  to  have  recourse  to  the  sword.  Peter,  thinking  all 
29* 


342  scuirTniE  headings. 

was  desperate  and  gone,  —  doubting  the  success  of  the  cause 
to  M'hich  he  was  committed,  —  fearing  the  extinction  of  the 
kingdom  he  anticipated  as  about  to  dawn,  —  drew  the  sword, 
and  smote  with  the  sword ;  but  received  the  rebuke  that  Peter's 
pretended  successors  ought  to  have  received,  and  the  effects  of 
which  they  are  yet  destined  painfully  and  fatally  to  feel,  that 
they  who  use  the  sword,  or  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  with 
the  sword.  The  persecutor  shall  be  persecuted ;  the  perse- 
cuted shall  ultimately  be  triumphant.  Persecution  never 
successfully  put  down  a  bad  cause ;  it  never  yet  built  up  a 
good  one.  And  if  the  sword  is  to  be  unsheathed,  let  it  be 
so  unsheathed,  not  by  apostles,  but  by  apostates ;  not  by 
Peter's  true  successors,  but  by  those  who  feel  the  hollo wness 
of  their  creed,  and  are  naturally  satisfied  that  if  not  sustained 
by  an  arm  of  flesh,  it  cannot  be  maintained  at  all.  Let  us 
have  confidence  in  truth,  and  confidence  in  its  supremacy, 
knowing  the  promise  of  its  Author,  that  heaven  and  earth 
shall  pass  away,  but  one  jot  or  tittle  shall  not  iall  from  his 
Word,  until  all  shall  be  fulfilled. 

Our  blessed  Lord  then  told  them,  that  if  he  were  a  suf- 
ferer, it  was  not  because  of  a  necessity  that  Omnipotence 
could  not  control ;  for  that  if  he  wished  to  be  delivered, 
legions  of  angels  would  be  his  cohorts,  and  in  the  midst  of 
these  he  would  be  strong,  and  more  than  conqueror.  But 
He  asks,  "  How  then  shall  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled  that 
thus  it  must  be  ? "  What  a  beautiful  sentiment  is  this ! 
What  a  dignity  is  conferred  upon  the  Book  that  is  under-, 
valued  by  some,  denied  by  others,  and  cast  aside  or  super- 
seded by  thousands  more,  but  that  was  ever  present  to  the 
mind,  ever  preeminent  in  the  thoughts  of  Jesus  the  Son  of 
God !  I  know  no  testimony  to  the  grandeur  of  this  Book 
equal  to  the  fact  that  the  Author  of  it  always  solved  every 
perplexity  by  an  appeal  to  it,  and  expressed  his  innermost 
feelings  in  its  beautiful  language.  He  came  down  from 
heaven  to  show  that  this  Book  may  be  undervalued  by  men 


MATTHEW    XXVI.  343 

who  do  not  know  it,  but  that  it  was  so  valued  by  Infinite 
Wisdom,  so  valued  by  the  Son  of  God,  that  he  could  get  no 
language  so  beautiful,  so  expressive,  so  completely  to  the 
purpose,  to  express  his  own  infinite  and  otherwise  unutter- 
able emotions,  as  that  which  the  Holy  Ghost  inspired  the 
pens  of  holy  men  to  record  in  days  that  had  passed  away. 

Let  me  notice,  in  the  next  place,  what  Jesus  regards  in 
this  remark,  the  fixity  of  Scripture.  "  How  then  shall  the 
Scriptures  be  fulfilled  ?  "  He  assumes  their  permanence  as 
an  axiom.  The  very  expression  denotes  that  they  were  never 
to  fail,  nor  in  the  least  degree  were  their  prophecies  to 
fall.  "  How  then  shall  the  Scriptures  be  fulfilled,  that  thus 
it  must  be  ? "  And  what  is  the  history  of  the  Bible  for 
eighteen  centuries  ?  Sects  have  risen,  and  have  subsided. 
Disputes  have  convulsed  the  world,  and  have  again  fallen 
back  into  the  silence  out  of  which  they  came.  Clouds  and 
darknesses  have  come  and  gone ;  but  the  Bible  remains  in 
all  the  splendor  of  its  first  kindling,  in  all  the  purity  of  its 
first  inspiration.  The  evidence  of  its  origin,  God ;  its  pro- 
tection. Omnipotence  ;  its  issue,  everlasting  and  glorious  ful- 
filment. 

But  Jesus  appeals  by  this  evidently  to  the  prophecies  of 
Scripture  respecting  himself.  Now,  I  do  not  know  any  one 
subject  that  is  more  frequently  alluded  to  throughout  the 
Scriptures  than  the  death  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  proph- 
ecy of  Daniel,  which  was  written  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  years  before  his  advent,  is  — "  Know  therefore  and 
understand,  that  from  the  going  forth  of  the  commandment 
to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem  unto  the  Messiah  the 
Prince  shall  be  seven  weeks,  and  threescore  and  two  weeks: 
the  street  shall  be  built  again,  and  the  wall,  even  in  troub- 
lous times.  And  after  threescore  and  two  weeks  shall  Mes- 
siah be  cut  off",  but  not  for  himself:  and  the  people  of  the 
prince  that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the  sanc- 
tuary ;  and  the  end  thei-eof  shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto 


344  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  end  of  the  war  desolations  are  determined.  And  he 
shall  confirm  the  covenant  with  many  for  one  week :  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  week  he  shall  cause  the  sacrifice  and  the 
oblation  to  cease,  and  for  the  overspreading  of  abominations 
he  shall  make  it  desolate,  even  until  the  consummation," 
that  is,  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles.  In  the  22d  Psalm,  we 
have  another  striking  prophecy ;  and  we  can  have  nothing 
more  complete  than  the  portrait  given  in  the  53d  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  which,  apart  from  the  light  that  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness casts  upon  it,  is  contradictory ;  for  it  speaks  of  one 
who  shall  be  subject,  and  yet  shall  reign,  —  of  one  who 
shall  die,  and  yet  live,  —  of  one  who  shall  be  in  sorrow,  and 
yet  in  great  joy.  Now,  this  cannot  be  predicated  of  any 
human  being  that  ever  was,  except  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
And  that  these  prophecies  refer  clearly  to  the  Messiah,  is 
shown  by  the  many  references  given  to  them  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  We  have,  for  instance,  in  one  passage,  ''  But 
those  things  which  God  before  had  showed  by  the  mouth  of 
all  his  prophets,  that  Christ  should  suffer,  he  hath  so  ful- 
filled." Again,  in  Acts  viii.  29 :  "  Then  the  Spirit  said  unto 
Philip,  Go  near,  and  join  thyself  to  this  chariot.  And 
Philip  ran  thither  to  him,  and  heard  him  read  the  prophet 
Esaias,  and  said,  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest  ? 
And  he  said.  How  can  I,  except  some  man  should  guide 
me  ?  And  he  desired  Philip  that  he  would  come  up  and  sit 
with  him.  The  place  of  the  Scripture  which  he  read  was 
this.  He  was  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter ;  and  like  a 
lamb  dumb  before  his  shearer,  so  opened  he  not  his  mouth : 
in  his  humiliation  his  judgment  was  taken  away ;  and  who 
shall  declare  his  generation  ?  for  his  life  is  taken  from  the 
earth.  And  the  eunuch  answered  Philip,  and  said,  I  pray 
thee,  of  whom  speaketh  the  prophet  this  ?  of  himself,  or  of 
some  other  man  ?  Then  Philip  opened  his  mouth,  and  be- 
gan at  the  same  Scripture,  and  preached  unto  him  Jesus," 
that  is,  the  end  and  the  object  of  that  testimony.     And  so 


JtATTHEW    XXVI.  345 

we  have  Peter,  again,  in  numerous  passages  alluding  to  the 
same  thing  (1  Pet.  i.  10,  11):  "Of  which  salvation  the 
prophets  have  inquired  and  searched  diligently,  who  proph- 
esied of  the  grace  that  should  come  unto  jou :  searching 
w^hat,  or  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which 
was  in  them  did  signify,  when  it  testified  beforehand  the 
sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should  follow."  It 
was,  then,  clearly  predicted  that  Christ  sliould  suffer,  and 
by*  a  cross  should  enter  into  glory,  and  sit  upon  the  throne 
of  his  father  David,  and  sway  the  sceptre  of  a  glorious 
kingdom  that  should  never  wane  or  cease. 

And  therefore,  when  Peter  attempted  to  bring  the  ele- 
ment of  force  into  that  kingdom  which  is  maintained  by 
weapons  that  are  not  carnal,  Jesus  said,  "If  force  were 
necessary,  the  omnipotence  of  God  is  at  my  service ;  the 
angels  of  the  sky  will  become  my  champions.  But  then, 
how  shall  those  ancient  prophecies  that  never  can  pass 
away  meet  their  fulfilment,  and  God  receive  his  glory,  and 
the  Scripture  the  exhibition  of  its  truth,  except  I  submit, 
and  be  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  sheep  before 
her  shearers  is  dumb,  bearing  and  expiating  the  transgres- 
sions of  a  world  laid  upon  me  ?  " 

Notice  in  this  the  greatness  of  Jesus.  We  read  prophe- 
cies not  to  fulfil  them  ;  we  read  precepts  only  to  obey  them. 
When  we  read  God's  prophecies,  we  are  to  leave  God  to 
fulfil  them  when,  where,  and  how  he  pleases.  Our  duty  is 
to  learn  doctrines,  and  obey  precepts.  It  is  God's  grand 
prerogative  to  fulfil  prophecy.  Do  not,  therefore,  attempt 
to  justify  a  course  by  saying  that  God  predicted  it.  God 
predicted  that  Judas  should  betray  the  Son  of  God,  bu^ 
that  did  not  justify  Judas  in  doing  so.  He  predicted  that 
the  Jews  should  crucify  the  Lord  of  glory,  but  that  did  not 
justify  the  deed;  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  said,  "Ye  by 
wicked  hands  took  and  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory."  And 
so,  w^hen  we  read  a  prophecy,  we  are  not  to  proceed  to  ful- 


346  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

fil  it.  But  Jesus  did  so ;  and  that  very  fact  indicates  that 
he  was  more  than  man,  and  that  he  came  to  fill  a  sphere, 
and  fulfil  a  mission,  and  discharge  a  function,  peculiar, 
exclusive,  divine.  Truly  this  was,  as  the  prophet  pre- 
dicted, him  who  himself  fulfilled  the  prophecy,  the  Son  of 
God. 

It  is  quite  abundantly  plain  that  the  death  of  Jesus  did  not 
come  upon  him  unexpectedly.  He  looked  forward  to  a 
Cross  as  the  termination  of  his  life.  Now,  if  Jesus  was 
what  even  the  sceptic,  —  what  Rousseau,  in  the  most  elo- 
quent delineation  of  his  glory  out  of  Scripture,  describes 
him  to  be  —  holy  and  spotless,  how  can  we  explain  this  phe- 
nomenon, that  the  holiest  Being  who  ever  appeared  upon 
earth  was  the  most  persecuted,  proscribed,  and  maltreated  ? 
He  was  not  only  so,  but  he  was  so  by  the  express  sanction 
and  approbation  of  God  the  Father  himself.  If  Jesus  was 
so  holy,  spotless,  beneficent,  how  is  it  that  he  was  the  most 
sorrow  stricken,  the  most  afflicted,  the  most  suffering? 
God's  law  is,  that  perfect  holiness  is  perfect  happiness,  and 
that  sin  is  essentially  misery ;  but  here  is  perfect  holiness 
which  had  no  happiness  at  all,  as  far  as  outward  treatment 
is  concerned.  Either  Christ  was  something  more  than  a 
mere  martyr  and  a  great  suflTerer,  or  God  has  broken  his 
own  everlasting  law  —  "  Be  holy,  and  be  happy  ; "  "  Be 
sinful,  and  suffer."  We  understand  why  it  was.  He  bore 
our'  sins  ;  our  transgressions  were  laid  on  him;  he  was  the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;  by 
his  stripes  we  are  healed.  In  other  words  his  death  was 
not  that  of  a  martyr,  but  of  a  victim.  He  died,  not  simply 
to  show  how  patiently  he  could  suffer,  —  how  magnani- 
mously he  could  depart ;  but  he  died  that  our  sins,  trans- 
ferred from  us,  and  laid  upon  him,  might  be  put  away  for 
ever ;  and  that  his  righteousness,  transferred  from  him,  and 
laid  upon  us,  might  be  our  title  to  everlasting  joy  and  felic- 
ity hereafter.      The   only   explanation,   therefore,   of   the 


MATTHEW    XXVI.  347 

sufferings  of  Christ —  sufferings  so  great,  that  the  most  ex- 
pressive language  fails  to  embody  them  —  is,  that  God  has 
set  him  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  .that  we,  through  faith  in 
his  blood,  might  have  the  remission  of  all  our  sins.  I 
know  nothing  so  stupendous  in  all  the  providential  dealings 
of  God  as  those  last  three  years  that  were  spent  by  Jesus 
prior  to  his  crucifixion.  What  sinlessness,  and  yet  what 
suffering !  What  explanation  can  we  give  of  it,  except  that 
which  the  Bible  has  anticipated  us  by  giving,  that  He 
died,  the  Just  in  the  room  of  the  unjust,  to  bring  us  unto 
God? 

I  do  not  think  that  the  figure  frequently  given  to  illus- 
trate the  death  of  Christ  is  at  all  a  pure  one.  I  have  read 
that  God  so  loving  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  is  like  a  king  giving  his  son  to  suffer,  in  order  that  the 
rebellious  in  his  kingdom  may  be  forgiven.  I  think  such  a 
comparison,  however  popular  or  prevalent  it  may  be,  is 
altogether  inapplicable  here.  The  king  who  would  give  his 
son  to  die  in  such  a  case  would  be  a  murderer,  and  the  son 
who  would  submit  to  die  would  necessarily  be  a  suicide,  and 
the  people  for  whom  he  died  would  be  criminals  and  rebels 
still.  In  this  case  it  was  something  grander  and  great^. 
Jesus  himself  was  God  as  well  as  man.  That  one  phrase, 
"  I  have  power  to  lay  down  my  life,"  uttered  by  Jesus,  is  to 
my  mind  satisfactory  proof  of  his  Deity.  I  have  no  power 
to  lay  down  my  life.  I  should  be  a  suicide  if  I  did  so.  The 
God  who  gave  it  alone  has  the  prerogative  to  take  it  away. 
None  but  God  in  our  nature  manifest  could  say,  "  I  have 
power  to  lay  down  my  life,  and  power  to  take  it  again." 
The  Godhead  was  in  the  Crucified.  He  who  slew  became 
also  the  Sacrifice.  It  was  God  himself  who  selected  the 
Ransom,  and  it  was  God  himself  who  paid  it.  The  riches 
of  his  OAvn  mercy  answered  and  satisfied  the  exactions  of 
his  own  justice.  It  was  not  a  man  in  my  place  who  died ; 
but  all  the  infinite  excellence  of  Deity  was  given  to  every 


348  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

vicarious  pang,  sorrow,  sufFering,  and  tear;  so  that  while 
Jesus  remained  a  Sacrifice  before  God,  he  has  become 
therefore  a  Saviour  to  poor,  lost,  but  believing  sinners. 

What  a  magnificent  thought,  then,  is  this,  that  Jesus  died, 
not  as  the  result  of  sin,  —  not  to  be  an  exhibition  of  patient 
martyrdom,  —  but  died  because  on  him,  not  in  him,  was 
sin.  He  was,  as  I  have  often  expressed  it,  the  spotless- 
Lamb  clothed  in  the  tainted  fleece  of  the  lost  sheep,  that 
we,  the  lost  sheep,  might  be  clothed  in  the  spotless  fleece 
of  his  own  immaculate  and  glorious  righteousness.  He 
took  all  my  sins  on  him,  and  died.  By  faith  I  receive  all 
his  righteousness  from  him,  and  live  for  ever.  When  Jesus 
died  upon  the  Cross,  there  was  nothing  in  him  worthy  of 
death;  and  when  I  shall  be  admitted  into  glory,  there  will 
be  nothing  in  me  worthy  of  eternal  life.  He  died,  because 
of  sin  upon  him,  not  in  him.  I  shall  live,  because  of  his 
righteousness  upon  me,  not  in  me.  My  sins  were  imputed 
unto  him,  and  he  appeared  before  heaven  and  earth  the 
great  Sinner,  because  the  great  Sin-bearer  of  the  universe ; 
and  his  righteousness  will  be  transferred  to  me,  and  I  shall 
be  justified,  accepted,  acquitted,  and  presented  before  God, 
ifot  only  greatly  righteous,  but  without  spot  or  blemish  — 
just  as  righteous  as  Christ  is,  because  it  is  his  righteousness, 
and  not  mine,  that  is  my  title  to  everlasting  glory.  Thus, 
then,  on  Jesus,  the  great  Sufferer,  were  laid  the  iniquities 
of  all  that  believe.  On  all  that  are  born  Adam's  taint  lies ; 
only  upon  all  that  are  born  again  Christ's  righteousness  lies. 
By  nature  we  inherit  Adam's  ruin ;  by  faith  in  Christ,  or 
the  belief  of  God's  testimony  concerning  him,  we  inherit 
Christ's  righteousness.  We  are  all  found  in  Adam  by 
nature ;  only  they  that  believe  are  found  in  Christ  by 
grace. 

And  now,  if  Christ  thus  died  for  us — if  such  agony, 
such  suffering,  such  an  expiation,  was  made  for  us  —  if  sor- 
rows too  big  for  tears,  if  sufferings  infinite,  and  therefore 


MATTHEW    XXVI,  349 

inexpressible  in  the  formulas  of  human  speech,  were  Christ's 
for  us  —  then  can  you  conceive  any  sin  greater  than  the 
sin  of  that  man,  who  eats  and  drinks,  and  breathes,  and 
rises  up  and  lies  down,  and  feels  no  more  interest  in  this 
than  he  feels  in  Confucius,  in  Mahomet,  in  Julius  Caesar,  or 
in  Alexander  the  Great?  The  great  condemning  sin  is  not 
that  which  we  have  committed,  but  it  is  our  refusal  of  the 
remedy  that  can  remove  it.  The  language  of  Scripture  is, 
"  How  shall  we  escape,"  not  if  we  reject,  but  "  if  Ave  neg- 
lect so  great  salvation  ?  "  I  think  the  infidel  is  a  much 
more  sensible  character  than  the  nominal  believer.  The 
apostle  says,  not,  "  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  reject  so 
great  salvation  ?  "  —  that  would  be  consistent ;  —  but  he 
says,  "  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we  neglect  so  great  salva- 
tion ?  "  —  that  is,  if  we  live  without  it,  if  we  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  it.  Now,  ask  yourselves  this :  Suppose  there  never 
had  been  a  Bible  written  —  suppose  a  Saviour  had  never 
died  —  should  I  be  any  thing  different  from  what  I  am? 
Select  the  first  dozen  people  you  meet  in  the  street,  and  if 
there  had  been  no  Christianity  at  all,  they  would  personally 
just  have  lived  as  they  do  at  this  moment.  This  is  a  proof 
that  none  of  its  blessings  have  touched  them ;  but  the  awful 
fact  is,  that  the  responsibility  of  not  having  them  rests  upon 
them.  "  This  is  the  condemnation,  that  light  is  come  into 
the  world,  and  men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  be- 
cause their  deeds  were  evil."    John  iii.  19. 

And,  in  the  next  place,  let  me  state  the  blessed  and 
joyous  fact,  that  if  Christ  bore  my  sins,  and  paid  in  so 
bearing  them  the  full  penalty  that  was  due,  then  in  what- 
ever betides  me  in  God's  providence  there  is  nothing  penal. 
The  Cross  absorbed  all  the  penalty  ;  nothing  but  the 
paternal  can  be  showered  from  heaven  upon  me.  In  other 
words,  when  God  deals  with  me  now,  he  deals  with  me,  not  as 
a  foe,  but  as  a  son.  There  is  no  condemnation  to  them  that 
ai'e  in  Christ.  Thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift, 
30 


350  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

and  that  Jesus  thus  fulfilled  the  Scriptures.  Had  he  faltered 
or  refused,  our  hopes  and  prospects  had  been  blasted  for 
ever.  But  he  endured  the  cross,  bore  the  betrayal  of  one 
apostle,  the  denial  of  another,  the  flight  of  all,  and  refused 
to  call  in  allies  that  were  at  his  service  if  he  wished,  not  for 
his  own  sake,  but  for  ours. 


CHAPTER    XXVI.  69-75. 

Peter's  fall  —  sin  —  danger  —  duty  —  repentance  — 
restoration. 

The  same  subject  is  given  with  greater  fulness  in  the 
following  words  by  one  Evangelist  (Mark  xiv.  72)  :  "And 
the  second  time  the  cock  crew.  And  Peter  called  to  mind 
the  word  that  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Before  the  cock_  crow 
twice,  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice.  And  when  he  thought 
thereon,  he  wept."  Another  thus  relates  it  (Luke  xxii.  61, 
62)  :  "And  the  Lord  turned,  and  looked  upon  Peter.  And 
Peter  remembered  the  word  of  the  Lord,  how  he  had  said 
unto  him.  Before  the  cock  crow,  thou  shalt  deny  me  thrice. 
And  Peter  went  out,  and  wept  bitterly."  All  the  expres- 
sions denoting  the  same  inner  feeling  excited  in  the  hear'*; 
of  Peter,  and  the  same  outer  expression  of  that  feeling  in 
his  personal,  genuine,  and  unfaltering  repentance. 

The  sins  of  Peter  seem  singled  out  in  Scripture  for  special 
notice  and  reiterated  correction.  His  uncalled-for  presump- 
tion in  walking  on  the  Avares  of  the  sea  with  a  faltering 
footstep  and  failing  confidence  is  rebuked  in  one  place.  His 
dissuading  Christ  from  going  to  suffer  at  Jerusalem,  the  very 
end  of  his  mission  and  arrival  upon  earth,  is  rebuked  in 
another  place.  His  rashness  on  the  Mount  of  Transfigura- 
tion, when  he  said,  not  knowing  what  he  uttered,  for  he  was 
a:  man  who  seems  to  have  had  a  very  unadvised  lip  before 
the  day  of  Pentecost,  "  Let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles; 
one  for  thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elias;" — 


352  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

again,  his  passionately  unsheathing  his  sword,  and  cutting 
off  the  ear  of  the  servant  of  the  high-priest,  a  portion  of  his 
succession  which  his  pretended  successors  have  indubitably- 
inherited  ;  —  again,  his  dissembling  wuth  the  Jew\s,  for  which 
he  was  gently  rebuked  by  St.  Paul  —  are  all  noticed  in  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  and  in  such  terms  of  rebuke  as  so  great 
sins  richly  deserve.  At  the  same  time,  these  special  rebukes 
of  so  many  and  so  aggravated  sins  appear  to  have  been 
blessed  to  Peter  in  the  most  eminent  degree,  as  I  shall  after- 
wards show.  We  may  sin  with  Peter ;  but  are  we  sure  we 
shall  repent  with  Peter  also  ?  If  we  insist  upon  his  trans- 
gressions as  precedents  for  us,  are  we  quite  sure  that  we  can 
guarantee  that  we  shall  have  his  repentance,  which,  at  least, 
is  a  precedent  more  worthy  of  our  study  ?  It  is  possible  to 
sin  with  Peter,  but  to  perish  with  Judas.  Let  us  remember 
his  sins  as  beacons  in  life's  voyage,  w^arning  us  of  rocks  and 
reefs,  on  which  we  too  may  make  shipwreck ;  and  let  us 
think  of  his  repentance  as  an  intimation  as  fresh  as  if  it  came 
now  from  heaven,  —  that  there  is  forgiveness  for  the  worst 
of  sinners,  and  repentance  for  the  oldest  of  criminals. 

In  looking  at  the  story  recorded  in  the  part  of  the  chapter 
we  have  read,  and  especially  as  illustrated  by  the  parallel 
passages  of  the  other  Evangelists,  let  us  notice  what  led 
Peter  into  the  grievous  sin,  which  so  stains  his  memory,  the 
denial  of  his  Lord  and  Master.  First,  he  either  ought  to 
have  been  sure  that  he  could  stand  where  the  rest  could  not, 
or  he  ought  to  have  fled  with  them,  in  cowardice,  it  may  be, 
but  still,  shrinking  from  the  bitter  possibility  of  being  tempt- 
ed to  deny  their  Lord  and  Master.  If  he  was  to  remain,  it 
ought  to  have  been  with  deep,  earnest,  personal  reliance  on 
the  strength,  and  fervent  prayer  for  the  presence,  of  his 
blessed  Lord ;  or,  if  he  could  not  watch  and  pray,  as  his 
Master  prescribed,  he  ought  to  have  adopted  the  only  other 
possible  alternative  —  retreat  w^ith  the  rest  from  the  scene 
of  peril.     If  you  are  placed  in  circumstances  of  temptation, 


MATTHEW   XXVI.  353 

either  look' beyond  self  for  superhuman  strength,  to  conquer 
them,  or  flee  from  the  place  in  which  you  are  conscious  you 
cannot  stand.  But  there  is  no  evidence  in  this  passage,  nor 
in  the  parallel  passages  of  the  other  Evangelists,  that  Peter 
in  the  least  recollected  the  only  prescription  for  security 
given  by  our  Lord,  "  Watch  and  pray."  In  this  very  chap- 
ter, as  if  Jesus  wished  Peter  to  foresee  the  possibility  of  his 
fall,  he  says,  "  TVatch  and  pray."  We  read  that  Peter  sat 
warming  himself  by  the  fire ;  but  there  is  not  the  slightest 
intimation  that  he  suspected  peril,  watched  against  its  ap- 
proach, or  prayed  for  divine  strength  to  enable  him  to  con- 
quer, when  it  should  come. 

He  sat  down  in  the  company  of  the  enemies  of  Christ. 
Was  that  duty  ?  If  God's  providence  places  you  in  such  a 
situation,  then  be  watchful,  circumspect,  prayerful.  You  are 
at  the  post  of  duty  ;  but  do  not  forget  it  is  the  post  of  dan- 
ger. But  if  your  own  election,  and  not  God's  providence, 
has  placed  you  there,  then  you  have  no  right  to  expect  a 
Divine  presence  where  there  is  not  previously  a  Divine 
commission.  We  can  only  expect  the  blessing  of  grace, 
where  God  in  his  providence  has  placed  us.  At  the  post  of 
duty  in  God's  strength  you  are  omnipotent ;  anywhere  else 
you  are  left  to  your  own  strength,  and  you  will  fail  and  falter 
before  the  very  first  gust  of  temptation  and  of  sin.  This 
does  not  imply  that  we  are  to  go  out  of  the  world,  in  order 
to  avoid  its  perils.  If  all  the  good  were  to  leave  the  world, 
what  a  world  it  would  become  !  The  reason  why  the  salt  is 
here,  is  that  it  may  continue  here,  and  saturate  the  mass. 
The  reason  why  God  kindles  lights  over  all  the  earth  is,  that 
they  may  lead  sinners  to  the  Lamb.  And,  therefore,  to 
leave  the  world,  and  to  go  into  a  nunnery  or  a  convent,  on 
the  supposition  that  you  escape  from  its  perils,  is  to  traverse 
the  plainest  will  of  God,  even  if  a  convent  were,  what  it  is 
the  very  reverse  of,  a  nook  of  heaven,  a  vestibule  of  the 
blessed.  If  you  be  good  people,  the  world  has  need  of  you ; 
30* 


354  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

if  you  be  bad  people,  you  will  be  no  better  in  a  convent. 
As  long  as  there  is  a  soul  to  be  converted,  a  sinner  to  be 
enlightened,  a  Bible  to  be  circulated,  or  a  tract  to  be  dis- 
tributed, so  long  you  are  wanted  in  the  world.  Monks  and 
suicides  belong  to  the  same  category.  The  monk  runs  away 
from  the  world  to  escape  its  dangers  ;  the  suicide  runs  away 
from  the  world  to  get  rid  of  its  trials;  and  both  run  in  the 
face  of  the  clear  prescription  of  Jesus,  which  is,  not  to  go 
out  of  the  world,  but  in  the  world  to  watch  and  pray,  pro- 
testing against  its  sins,  and  bringing  the  sunshine  of  a  better 
world  into  the  midst  of  its  darkness. 

The  first  gust  of  temptation  that  smote  Peter,  was  a  dam- 
sel coming  and  saying,  not  at  all  in  uncourteous  or  severe 
language,  but  plainly  proper  and  becoming  the  occasion, 
"  Thou  also  wast  with  Jesus  of  Galilee."  That  was  a  very 
simple  remark ;  but  Peter  felt  he  was  in  the  wrong  place, 
and  that  the  first  step  he  had  taken  to  warm  himself  at  that 
fire,  and  the  first  seat  he  had  selected  to  sit  down  on  in  that 
company,  was  so  far  an  apostasy  from  Christ.  And  then, 
when  sin  is  in  the  conscience,  a  whisper  sounds  louder  in  it 
than  thunder,  and  a  shadow  is  more  terrible  than  the  most 
alarming  sights,  from  beneath  or  from  above.  And,  therefore, 
Peter's  conscience  being  wrong,  the  simple  remark  of  a 
damsel  who  passed  by,  making  it  with  all  the  lightness  of  a 
merry  and  a  thoughtless  heart,  "  Thou  also  wast  with  Jesus 
of  Galilee,"  was  enough  to  awaken  in  Peter's  conscience  the 
sense  of  sin  ;  and  having  done  one  sin,  like  fools  who  still 
live  in  Christendom,  he  thought  he  might  commit  another  to 
conceal  it,  and  therefore  denied,  and  denied  even  with  an 
oath,  that  he  knew  Him  whose  apostle  he  was,  and  whose 
beneficence  he  had  so  largely,  so  often,  and  so  liberally 
shared,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  Evangelist,  he  "  began  to 
curse  and  to  swear."  Let  him  that  standeth  take  heed  lest 
he  fall.  If  an  apostle  fell,  an  apostle's  successor  has  no 
guarantee    for    security.      Be    not    high-minded,    but   fear. 


MATTHEW    XXVI.  355 

"  Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you, 
that  he  may  sift  you  as  wheat :  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee, 
that  thy  faith  fail  not."  —  Satan  may  have  you  for  a 
moment ;  he  may  sift  you  terribly :  but  still,  ultimate  and 
eternal  failure  will  not  be  your  experience ;  for  I  have 
anticipated  the  temptation,  and  have  already  prayed  for  you, 
that  your  faith  fail  not.  My  dear  friends,  Satan's  temptation 
is  a  reality.  It  is  all  very  fine  for  thoughtless  and  ungodly 
men  to  speak  of  Satan  as  a  figure  of  speech,  a  mere  meta- 
phor, a  fancy,  a  conceit ;  but  you  may  depend  upon  it,  Satan 
is  a  reality.  I  freely  admit  that  Satan  is  often  blamed  for 
what  he  is  not  guilty  of.  It  is  possible  to  lay  to  his  charge 
what  he  has  not  perpetrated.  I  do  not  believe  that  he  is 
omnipresent.  He  has  myriads  of  fallen  fiends,  who  are  his 
apostles,  and  who  can  and  do  constantly  act  upon  the  human 
mind ;  but  I  do  not  believe  that  Satan  himself  can  be  in  two 
places  at  once.  The  very  expression,  "  He  goeth  about 
seeking  whom  he  may  devour,"  implies  change  of  locality. 
But  I  think  the  most  awful  prerogative  of  Satan  is  that  he 
can  touch  the  human  mind.  He  can  so  far  do  what  the 
Holy  Spirit  can  do  —  touch  the  conscience  and  speak  to  the 
human  mind.  It  is  with  great  truth,  therefore,  that  an  apostle 
says,  "We  wrestle  against  principalities,  against  powers, 
against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  against 
spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places."  And  it  is  a  great  pre- 
scription that  an  apostle  gives,  but  which  Peter  seems  on  this 
occasion  to  have  forgotten, "  Resist  the  devil,"  for  he  is  essen- 
tially a  coward ;  because  when  Calvary  was  completed,  he 
fell  from  heaven,  his  head  was  then  bruised.  "  Resist  the 
devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you." 

Peter  denied  with  an  oath.  Does  this  mean  that  he  made 
a  solemn  affidavit  that  he  knew  not  his  Master  ?  I  do  not 
think  so.  To  use  a  modern  expression,  this  was  not  perjury 
on  the  part  of  Peter,  but  simply  rash,  violent,  and  thought- 


356  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

less  swearing,  just  like  what  still  takes  place.  Tliere  are 
some  people  in  the  world  who  swear,  just  as  some  professing 
Christians  pray  ;  that  is,  meaning  nothing,  the  one  or  the 
other,  by  what  they  say.  Thus  Peter,  in  the  excitement  of 
the  moment,  confirmed  his  denial  with  an  oath.  My  dear 
friends,  i£  a  thing  be  true,  assert  it ;  and  the  God  of  truth 
will  ultimately  prove  it.  If  a  thing  be  false,  you  need  not 
swear  that  it  is  true,  for  it  will  soon  prove  itself  to  be  false. 
Nothing  false  is  permanent ;  every  thing  true  is  lasting  as 
the  stars.  Peter  thought  that  his  rash  swearing  would 
make  a  false  statement  seem  true,  forgetful  of  all  his  Master 
said,  and  of  all  that  his  own  better  conscience  knew. 

But  what  is  meant,  you  may  ask,  by  the  expression, 
"  Thy  speech  bewrayeth  thee  ?  "  Jesus  is  called  in  a  pre- 
vious part  of  this  narrative,  "Jesus  of  Galilee."  Galilee 
was  the  place  of  degradation  and  contempt,  the  Boeotia,  if 
I  may  so  speak,  of  Judea.  Peter  had  some  accent,  as  peo- 
ple have  now  a  Scotticism,  an  Iricism,  or  an  Anglicanism, 
that  showed  that  he  was  a  Galilean,  and  therefore  a  friend 
or  companion  of  Jesus.  This  ought  not  to  have  offended 
him.  But  strange  it  is,  that  some  men  who  will  be  guilty 
of  the  grossest  and  most  scandalous  offences,  are  exces- 
sively angry  if  they  are  charged  with  deviating  in  the  least 
degree  from  a  certain  standard  of  conventional  excellence. 
Some  men  who  will  do  the  most  wicked  things,  will  fight  a 
duel  if  the  least  suspicion  of  their  honor,  justice,  or  integ- 
rity is  mooted  in  their  presence.  Human  nature  is  an  inex- 
plicable phenomenon,  except  in  the  light  of  the  Bible ;  and 
human  conduct  the  most  extraordinary  inconsistency,  until 
you  learn  the  secret  of  it  —  "  The  heart  of  man  is  deceitful 
above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked." 

We  read  that  when  Peter  had  denied  our  Lord,  the  cock 
crew.  Infidels  have  cavilled  at  this,  saying,  that  this  domes- 
tic bird  was  not  kept  by  the  Jews.     But  if  not  kept  by 


MATTHEW    XXVI.  357 

them,  it  was  kept  by  the  Romans  ;  and  probably,  it  was 
Roman  and  not  Jewish  property  kept  near  the  palace  of  the 
high-priest,  where  Peter  at  this  time  was. 

The  reason  of  this  simple  intimation  ringing  in  the  apos- 
tle's ear  was,  first,  to  remind  him  of  his  sin.  As  the  dumb 
ass  rebuked  a  prophet  of  old  by  speaking  supernatlrally,  so 
this  bird  crowing  was  to  Peter  significant  of  the  great  sin 
that  he  had  perpetrated.  It  was  next  to  remind  him  of  the 
words  that  Jesus  spake.  It  was  dumb  nature  giving  its 
Amen  to  the  prophecy  of  the  Lord  of  glory ;  and  it  was  to 
show  Peter  that  that  bird  watched  and  waited  to  do  the  bid- 
ding of  the  God  who  made  him,  whilst  an  apostle  failed  to 
acknowledge  the  name  and  the  greatness  of  the  Lord  who 
redeemed  him  by  his  blood,  and  thus  to  awaken  in  Peter's 
conscience  an  echo  that  might  be  the  key-note  of  feelings 
of  repentance  and  genuine  contrition.  It  is  recorded  in  an 
ancient  Patristic  writer,  that  Peter  as  long  as  he  lived  Avept 
when  he  heard  a  cock  crow,  that  it  was  the  sound  of  nature 
that  he  could  not  bear  to  hear ;  since  it  reminded  him  ever 
as  he  heard  it  of  the  sin  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  And 
this  power  of  association  is  very  valuable.  It  is  meant  by 
God  to  remind  us,  for  good,  of  our  past  transgressions,  that 
we  may  be  humbled  ;  but  not  to  conceal  from  us  the  present 
Sin  forgiver,  that  we  may  never  despair. 

Peter's  sin  seems  to  have  very  much  originated  from  the 
fact  that  he  followed  Christ  afar  off,  morally,  perhaps,  as 
much  as  physically.  Distance  from  Christ  is  distance  from 
strength,  light,  and  guidance.  Walk  near  to  him,  leaning 
on  him,  and  looking  to  him,  and  you  are  strong.  Let  go 
your  dependence  upon  him,  follow  him  afar  off,  beyond  the 
range  of  his  influence  and  his  power,  and  you  are  instantly 
in  peril. 

It  is  said  in  another  Gospel  that  Jesus  looked  upon  Peter. 
I  think  that  is  the  most  eloquent  text  in  the  whole  word  of 
God.     I  know  nothing  so  exquisitely  beautiful  —  nothing  in 


358  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

all  the  oratory  of  ancient  or  modern  times  that  can  be 
matched  with  it.  Jesus,  the  denied  One,  looked  in  the  face 
of  his  apostle,  his  denier,  and  the  effect  was,  "  Peter  wept 
bitterly."  What  a  look  must  that  have  been  !  And,  my 
dear  friends,  if  such  is  the  power  of  that  look,  that  it  gener- 
ates re^ntance  upon  earth,  what  must  be  the  withering 
effect  of  that  look,  when  it  is  no  longer  the  look  of  the  Sin 
forgiver,  but  of  the  King  on  the  great  white  throne,  saying, 
'•  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire."  What 
conviction  did  it  shoot  through  all  Peter's  intellect !  What 
repentance  did  it  instantly  create  in  Peter's  heart !  With 
what  speed  and  earnestness  did  the  poor  apostle  go  out, 
and,  in  the  language  of  my  text,  weep  bitterly !  It  was  a 
blessed  look.  There  was  rebuke  in  it ;  but  there  was  also 
love.  There  was  sorrow  depicted  in  it ;  but  there  was  also 
sympathy.  Precious  thought,  that  Jesus  never  rebuked  a 
sin  without  feeling  and  showing  that  he  felt  most  deeply  for 
the  poor  sinner !  Of  all  misfortunes  upon  earth  sin  is  the 
greatest.  It  is  not  for  us  to  denounce,  when  the  Lord  of 
glory  himself  would  not  do  so.  It  is  not  for  us  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  a  fellow,  and  to  assign  him  his  doom,  as  if  we 
were  assessors  on  the  judgment-seat ;  it  is  for  us  to  pity  the 
sinner,  to  pray  for  his  conversion,  to  tell  him  the  more  ex-. 
cellent  way,  and  to  lead  him  to  repentance.  But  how  often 
do  we  see  an  atrocious,  bigoted,  and  ferocious  spirit !  Many 
a  time  the  cry  of  "  No  Popery,"  as  it  is  called,  is  the  cry  of 
a  violent  passion,  a  ferocious  zeal,  a  persecuting  spirit.  I 
would  not  be  at  the  trouble  to  undeceive  the  Romanist  of 
his  errors,  except  I  had  the  thorough  persuasion  that  I  had 
something  better  to  give  him.  I  would  not  take  from  the 
Hindoo  his  Hindooism,  unless  I  had  something  better  to 
give  him.  Man  must  have  a  God  to  worship ;  he  must 
have  something  to  trust  in.  Never  pull  down  without  con- 
temporaneously building  up ;  never  dislodge  the  error, 
except  by  the  mighty  power  of   approaching  truth.     Do 


MATTHEW   XXVI.  359 

dot  make  men  cease  to  be  Papists,  in  order  to  make  tliem 
sceptics ;  for  that  is  but  driving  out  one  foul  spirit,  that 
seven  others  may  rush  into  his  place ;  but  trj  to  make 
them  cease  to  be  the  victims  of  superstition,  that,  by 
the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  may' become  the  sub- 
jects of  genuine  repentance,  and  of  the  Gospel  of-  the  Son 
of  God. 

•  Let  me  notice  now  what  was  the  evidence  of  Peter's 
repentance,  which  is  merely  stated  in  this  passage,  but  is 
left  to  be  developed  in  the  rest  of  his  life.  Peter,  when  the 
Lord  looked  on  him,  went  out  and  wept  bitterly.  His  heart 
swelled  with  sorrow  ;  and  beautifully  it  is  said,  he  went  out. 
Genuine  repentance  is  not  penance ;  it  is  not  something 
done  before  men  —  creeping  up  a  hill,  counting  beads,  say- 
ing pater-nosters ;  but  genuine  repentance  is  going  out  from 
the  crowd,  and  in  private  weeping  bitterly.  There  are 
tears  too  holy  for  man  to  see ;  there  is  a  sorrow  too  genuine 
to  be  sounded  on  the  streets  ;  there  is  a  repentance  that  no 
trumpet  must  go  before  to  herald  —  often  the  deepest  where 
the  face  is  washed  and  the  hands  are  clean,  and  you  are 
^een  of  God  to  repent,  and  not  by  men. 

Again,  Peter's  repentance  was  followed  by  genuine  refor- 
mation. Repentance  is  less  a  passion,  it  is  more  a  rooted 
principle.  Men  are  made  with  different  susceptibilities. 
One  man  will  weep  at  the  least  tale  of  suffering ;  another 
man  cannot  be  made  to  weep  as  he  hears  or  witnesses  the 
most  terrible  tragedy.  I  do  not  estimate  Christianity  by  the 
depth  of  the  feeling  that  is  within,  but  by  the  force  and 
spring  of  the  principle  that  God  has  planted  in  the  heart, 
and  that  develops  itself  in  the  life.  You  are  to  judge  of 
Christianity,  not  by  tears,  words,  or  apparent  feelings,  but 
by  the  force  and  continuity  of  the  life  sustained  and  borne 
out  by  a  feeling  that  is  first  a  passion,  next  a  principle.  Now 
not  one  of  the  apostles  showed  after  Pentecost  such  devoted- 
ness  (and  I  think  I  may  say  so,  even  with  Paul  clearly 


360  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

before  us)  as  the  Apostle  Peter.  We  find  him,  for  instance, 
even  before  that,  running  to  the  tomb  out  of  which  Jesus 
had  risen,  and  entering  into  competition  with  John,  the 
younger  and  the  more  active,  and  endeavoring  to  outstrip 
him  —  in  which,*however,  he  failed  —  in  order  to  reach  the 
grave  first.  Peter's  heart  was  as  warm  as  John's,  but  his 
youth  was  not  equal.  We  see  Peter,  next,  grieved  when 
Jesus  said  to  him  after  his  resurrection,  "  Simon,  son  of 
Jonas,  lovest  thou  me?"  putting  the  question  three  times,  as 
if  to  let  Peter  hear  the  undertone  of  his  threefold  sin.  Then, 
after  the  day  of  Pentecost,  we  read  that  Peter  avowed  the 
most  manfully  of  all  his  attachment  to  the  Crucified,  and 
rebuked  in  the  strongest  terms,  yet  not  unmingled  with  real 
love,  them  who  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory.  The  disciples 
themselves  w^ondered  at  the  boldness  of  Peter.  Mark  you, 
this  Peter  who  played  the  coward  in  the  court  of  justice,  is 
now  singled  out  as  the  greatest  personation  of  boldness  in 
Christ's  cause  of  all  the  apostles ;  and  they  took  knowledge 
of  him  that  he  had  been  with  Jesus.  And  again,  he 
rejoiced  that  he  was  thought  worthy  to  suffer  for  His  name's 


In  the  Bible  we  have  the  same  character  touched  by  dif- 
ferent pens,  and  yet  its  identity  is  preserved  and  unmistake- 
able  throughout.  Notice  Peter's  addresses  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  What  was  the  great  sin  that  Peter  never  for- 
got ?  It  was  his  having  denied  his  Lord.  Well,  what  does 
he  say  in  his  addresses  ?  As  if  to  sum  up  the  greatest  sin 
of  the  Jews  in  one  word,  he  says,  (Acts  iii.  14,)  "  Ye  denied 
the  Holy  One  and  the  Just,  and  desired  a  murderer  to  be 
granted  unto  you."  And  again,  as  if  his  own  sin  were 
ringing  loud  and  piercing  in  the  depths  of  his  heart,  he  says, 
"Ye  denied  him  in  the  presence  of  Pilate."  And  in  his 
Epistles,  as  if  his  sin  never  could  go  out  of  his  mind,  he  says, 
"  False  teachers,  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them."  And 
again,  as  if  the  same  tliought  were  before  him,  he  says  in 


MATTHEW    XXVI.  361 

another  passage  in  his  Epistles,  '^  If  ye  do  these  things,  ye 
shall  never  fall."  I  fell  because  I  did  not  attend  to  these 
things.  And  again,  he  says  in  another  passage,  (2  Peter  iii. 
17,)  "  Beware  lest  ye  fall  away  from  your  own  steadfast- 
ness." Read  Peter's  addresses  in  the  Acts,  and  his  Epistles  ; 
and  you  will  see  the  shadow  of  his  own  great  primal  sin 
spreading  over  all,  never  absent  from  his  memory,  but  sanc- 
tified to  him  by  grace,  as  it  had  been  long  forgiven  to  him  in 
the  abundant  mercy  of  our  God. 

From  all  this  'we  learn  that  true  believers  may  fall. 
Alas,  alas !  we  need  not  to  be  taught  this.  At  every  stage 
of  life's  long  journey  we  are  constrained  to  feel,  "  If  we  say 
we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves."  At  the  close  of 
every  chapter  of  life's  long  history  we  have  still  to  confess 
that  we  have  left  undone  what  we  ought  to  have  done,  and 
done  what  we  ought  not  to  have  done.  The  greatest  saint 
may  fall.  The  sceptic  will  wield  it  as  a  weapon  w^ith  Avhich 
to  attack  the  fortress  of  Christianity,  and  the  hypocrite  will 
use  it  as  a  precedent  to  sanction  his  indulgence  in  sin  ;  but 
the  Christian,  when  he  sees  the  fall  of  the  most  eminent,  will 
feel  that  it  is  a  proof  liow^  frail  human  nature  is  in  its  best 
estate,  and  a  solemn  summons  still  to  watch,  and  still  to  pray, 
and  to  feel  that  by  grace  we  are  saved,  by  grace  we  are  sanc- 
tified, by  grace  we  stand,  and  by  grace  we  persevere. 


Note.  —  [13.]  The  only  case  in  which  the  Lord  has  made  such  a 
promise.  We  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  majesty  of  this  prophetic 
announcement,  introduced  with  the  peculiar  and  weighty  aiMijv  Aiyo 
vfuv,  conveying,  by  implication,  the  whole  mystery  of  the  evayyeliov, 
which  should  go  forth  from  his  death  as  its  source,  —  looking  forward 
to  the  end  of  time,  when  it  shall  have  been  preached  in  the  whole 
world,  and  specifying  the  fact  that  this  deed  should  be  recorded 
wherever  it  is  preached.  We  may  notice  ( 1 )  that  this  announcement 
is  a  distinct,  prophetic  recognition  by  the  Lord  of  the  existence  of 
31 


362  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

written  records,  in  which  the  deed  should  be  related ;  for  in  no  other 
conceivable  way  could  the  universality  of  mention  be  brought  about. 

Judas  at  first  became  attached  to  the  Lord  with  much  the  same  view 
as  the  other  apostles.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  with  a  prac- 
tical talent  for  this  world's  business,  which  gave  occasion  to  his  being 
appointed  the  Treasurer  or  Bursar,  of  the  company  (John  xii.  6,  xiii. 
29).  But  the  self-seeking,  sensuous  element,  which  his  character  had 
in  common  with  that  of  the  other  apostles,  was  deeper  rooted  in  him, 
and  the  Spirit  and  love  of  Christ  gained  no  such  influence  over  him  as 
over  the  others,  who  were  more  disposed  to  the  reception  of  divine 
things.  In  proportion  as  he  found  our  Lord's  progress  disappoint 
his  greedy  anticipations,  did  his  attachment  to  him  give  place  to  cold- 
ness and  aversion.  The  exhibition  of  miracles  alone  could  not  keep 
him  faithful,  when  once  the  deeper  appreciation  of  the  Lord's  divine 
person  failed. 

[26.]  We  may  remark  on  this  important  part  of  our  narrative,  (1) 
That  it  was  demonstrably  the  Lord's  intention  to  found  an  ordinance 
for  those  who  should  believe  on  him;  (2)  That  this  ordinance  had 
some  analogy  with  that  which  He  and  the  apostles  were  then  celebrat- 
ing. The  first  of  these  assertions  depends  on  the  express  Avords  of  the 
Apostle  Paul ;  who,  in  giving  directions  for  the  due  celebration  of  the 
rite  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  states,  in  relation  to  it,  that  he  had  received 
from  the  Lord  the  account  of  its  institution,  which  he  then  gives.  He 
who  can  set  this  aside,  must  set  aside  with  it  all  apostolic  testimony 
whatever.  The  second  is  shown  by  the  fact,  that  what  now  took  place 
was  during  the  celebration  of  the  Passover;  that  the  very  words  of  its 
institution  were  a  part  of  the  Pascal  ceremony ;  that  the  same  Paul 
states  that  Christ  our  Passover  is  sacrificed  for  us  ;  thus  identifying 
the  body  broken  and  blood  shed,  of  which  the  bread  and  wine  here  are 
symbolic  with  the  Pascal  feast. 

[38.  J  The  Lord's  whole  inmost  life  must  have  been  one  of  continued 
trouble  of  spirit.  He  was  a  Man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief; 
but  there  was  an  extremity  of  anguish  now,  reaching  even  to  the 
utmost  limit  of  endurance,  so  that  it  seemed  that  more  would  be  death 
itself.  The  expression  is  said  to  be  proverbial ;  but  we  must  remem- 
ber that  though  with  us  men,  who  see  from  below,  proverbs  are 
merely  bold  guesses  at  truth,  with  Him,  who  sees  from  above,  they  are 
the  truth  itself,  in  its  very  purest  form ;  so  that  although,  when  used 
by  a  man,  a  proverbial  expression  is  not  to  be  expressed  to  literal  ex- 
actitude, when  used  by  the  Lord,  it  is,  just  because  it  is  a  proverb,  to 
be  searched  into,  and  dwelt  on  all  the  more.  —  Alford. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE  REMORSE  OF  JUDAS  —  HIS  ONI-Y  CONSOLATION  —  THE  PURCHASE 
OF   THE   potter's    FIELD  — JESUS   BEFORE   PILATE  —  BARABBA8 

PREFERRED     TO    JESUS DREAM    OF    PILATE'S    WIFE PILATE'S 

CONSCIENCE  AND  COURSE  —  INSCRIPTION  ON  THE  CROSS  —  DEATH 
OF  THE  GREAT  SACRIFICE  — THE  GRAVE  THAT  WILL  GIVE  UP 
NO  DEAD. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  chapter  we  read  that  on 
the  dawn  of  Good  Friday,  as  it  is  commonly  called,  the 
chief  priests  and  elders  of  the  people  entered  into  a  resolu- 
tion, or  arrangement,  to  put  Jesus  to  death.  In  order  to 
accomplish  this,  which  they  could  not  do  without  the  aid  of  the 
civil,  or  Roman,  power,  they  delivered  him  to  Pontius  Pilate. 

Forthwith,  the  remorse  which  is  the  result  of  crime  took 
possession  of  the  heart  of  Judas  in  all  its  fury,  and  under  the 
agony  of  convictions  he  could  not  crush,  of  recollections  he 
could  not  extinguish,  and  of  a  sin  too  heinous  and  too.  invet- 
erate to  be  expiated  or  forgiven,  he  flung  the  thirty  pieces 
of  silver  to  the  chief  priests  who  had  bribed  him,  and  ex- 
claimed, not  in  penitential  confession,  but  in  bitter  remorse, 
"  I  have  sinned  in  that  I  have  betrayed  the  innocent  blood." 
But  all  the  consolation  that  he  received  from  these  who 
were  conspirators  with  him,  was  the  consolation  that  is 
always  given  by  those  who  urge  others  to  perpetrate,  or  take 
part  in,  a  great  crime,  and  who  are  anxious  only  to  excul- 
pate themselves,  "  What  is  that  to  us  ?  We  have  no  business 
with  your  conscience.  That  is  your  own  matter.  What 
does  it  signify  to  us  whether  you  are  saved  or  lost,  whether 


364  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

you  weep  or  smile  ?  That  is  your  business,  and  not  ours. 
It  is  too  late  to  repair  the  error,  or  to  alter  the  consequences 
of  the  sin  or  crime  that  you  have  committed."  He  then 
went  and  committed  suicide.  In  his  case  it  was  the  suicide, 
not  of  lunacy,  but  of  remorse.  It  was  self-destruction  spring- 
ing, not  from  a  deranged  mind,  but  from  a  diseased  and  a 
wicked  heart.  It  was  suicide  in  the  strictest  and  severest 
sense  of  that  expression,  —  a  sin  perpetrated  in  modern  times 
only,  I  hope,  when  the  mind  has  lost  its  sovereignty,  and  the 
conscience  its  power,  the  reason  being  deranged,  and  stagger- 
ing under  the  difficulties  by  which  it  is  surrounded. 

The  chief  priests,  instead  of  receiving  the  monay,  rejected 
it.  They  did  not  think  of  the  crime  involved  in  their  con- 
spiracy with  Judas ;  but  they  felt  that  to  touch  tke  price  of 
blood  would  be  to  defile  their  hands.  They  did  not  remem- 
ber, or  if  they  did  they  did  not  care,  tha!  they  had  defiled 
their  consciences  by  joining  in  a  great  crime,  but  they  were 
most  scrupulous  not  to  defile  their  hands  ceremonially  by 
accepting  the  money  returned  to  them  by  Judas.  How  often 
do  we  find  that  where  men  are  ceremonially  most  rigid,  they 
are  morally  most  lax ;  that  those  who  will  fast  most  severely, 
will  at  the  same  time  be  in  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law 
most  careless  and  remiss !  "  They  took  counsel,  and 
bought  with  the  money  the  potter's  field,  to  bury  strangers 
in  ; "  thus  getting  rid  of  it  in  a  way  that  they  thought  would 
excuse  them  for  allowing  it  to  pass  through  their  hands.  It 
was  a  potter's  field  full  of  pits  from  which  clay  had  been 
dug  to  make  brick  and  earthen  vessels.  It  was,  therefore, 
of  no  use  for  agricultural  purposes,  and  might  be  had  for 
very  little  money  ;  and  it  was  to  be  turned,  not  consecrated, 
into  a  burial-place  for  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion  scattered 
throughout  the  world. 

We  read  that  this  was  the  fulfilment  of  a^  prophecy  by 
Jeremiah ;  but  it  seems  rather  to  be  found  in  Zechariah ; 
and  some  have  supposed  that  the  name  Jeremiah  has  in  some 


MATTHEW   XXVII.  365 

ray  by  accident  got  interpolated  instead  of  that  of  Zechariah ; 
iliough  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Evangelists  fre- 
quently quote  a  sentiment  from  ancient  prophecy,  and  clothe 
it  in  their  own  words,  —  thus  preserving  the  sentiment,  but 
expressing  it  in  equally  true,  but  different  language. 

We  read  then  that ''  Jesus  stood  before  the  governor,  and 
the  governor  asked  him,  saying.  Art  thou  the  King  of  the 
Jews  ?  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Thou  sayest.  And  when 
he  was  accused  of  the  chief  priests  and  elders,  he  answered 
nothing."  And  Pilate,  startled  by  his  silence,  asked  him  — 
"  Hearest  thou  not  how  many  things  they  witness  against 
thee  ?  "  But  Jesus  was  still  silent.  Sometimes  silence  is 
our  duty  ;  at  other  times  we  ought  to  speak  forth.  A  sound 
judgment  and  conscious  innocence  must  determine  when  it 
becomes  us  to  exhibit  the  one,  and  when  to  give  utterance  to 
the  other. 

Pilate  told  them  that  at  this  great  festival  of  the  Pass- 
over, it  was  the  habit  of  the  country  to  release  a  criminal. 
Just  as  at  coronations,  and  at  the  recent  marriage  of  the 
Emperor  of  the  French,  and  at  other  great  festivals  cele- 
brated in  other  kingdoms,  it  is  the  custom  to  release  state 
prisoners,  it  was  then  a  high  or  great  day  among  the  Jews, 
and  it  was  their  custom  to  release,  in  token  of  gladness  and 
joy,  some  criminal  whom  the  people  might  select  for  that 
purpose.  And  what  an  awful  choice  was  here !  Men  have 
said  that  the  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God.  Would 
that  it  were  so.  It  will  be  so  in  the  age  to  come,  but  it  is 
not  so  yet.  When  all  shall  be  righteous,  then  every  utter- 
ance shall  be  truth,  and  every  song  shall  be  praise  ;  but  at 
present  the  voice  of  the  people  has  been  often  the  very 
opposite  to  the  voice  of  God  ;  and  on  this,  the  most  solemn 
occasion  on  which  that  aphorism  was  ever  tested,  when  a 
robber  and  the  holy,  spotless  Lamb  of  God  were  the  two, 
one  of  whom  was  to  be  released,  the  voice  of  the  people,  the 
democracy,  chose  Barabbas  tlie  robber,  and  said  —  "  Let  the 
31* 


366  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

Son  of  God  be  crucified."  My  dear  friends,  both  tbe  auto- 
crat upon  the  throne  and  the  mob  in  the  agora,  have  alter- 
nately done  wickedly,  and  voted  wrong.  Trust  not  in  prince, 
trust  not  in  people ;  but  pray  that  the  time  may  come  when, 
by  God's  grace,  prince  and  people  shall  be  the  manifested 
sons  of  God ;  and  then  they  shall  praise  with  one  heart  and 
one  voice  Him  whoiii  their  fathers  crucified  and  refused. 

An  incident  occurs,  and  it  is  a  very  natural  and  a  very 
beautiful  one.  The  wife  of  Pilate  dreamed  a  dream,  and 
she  said  to  her  husband  —  "  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with 
that  just  man  ;  "  and  evidently  that  remonstrance  of  his  wife 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  Pilate.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
dream  was  from  God  ;  for  I  can  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
God  may  speak  to  people  by  dreams.  Only  we  are  to  bring 
our  dreams  to  the  test  of  Scripture,  never  the  Scripture  to 
the  test  of  our  dreams.  If  God  speak  to  us  thus  (and 
surely,  the  Eternal  may  speak  to  man's  mind  in  any  way 
that  he  thinks  best),  if  the  dream  suggest  duties  that  are 
obviously  good,  we  should  accept  it  as  a  memento  from  on 
high  ;  but  should  the  dream  suggest  what  is  condemned  in 
Scripture,  we  are  to  regard  it,  not  as  an  inspiration  from 
above,  but  as  a  suggestion  or  device  from  beneath.  In  the 
case  of  Pilate's  wife,  the  dream  told  her  that  Jesus  was  holy. 
She  remonstrated  with  her  husband,  and  urged  him  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  what  she  felt  to  be  a  great  crime  ;  and 
very  plainly,  the  result  of  that  was,  that  he  endeavored  in 
every  way  that  he  could  to  let  Jesus  go  free ;  for  he  said  — 
"  Whether  of  the  twain  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you  ?  " 
and  again,  evidently  his  conscience  prompting  the  very  oppo- 
site course  to  that  which  he  was  to  pursue  —  "  What  shall  I 
do  with  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ  ?  They  all  say  unto 
him,  Let  him  be  crucified.  And  the  governor  said.  Why, 
what  evil  hath  he  done  ?  But  they  cried  out  the  more,  say- 
ing, Let  him  be  crucified.  When  Pilate  saw  that  he  could 
prevail  nothing,  but  that  rather  a  tumult  was  made,  he  took 


MATTHEW   XXVII.  367 

water,  and  washed  his«hands  before  the  multitude,"  according 
to  a  ceremony  prescribed  in  Deuteronomy,  and  he  said,  "  I 
am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  just  person  :  see  ye  to  it." 
How  unworthy  of  his  lofty  office !  He  ought  to  have  fol- 
lowed his  convictions  at  all  hazards.  If  a  man  is  satisfied 
that  a  particular  path  is  that  of  duty,  let  him  not  ask  how 
many  agree  with  him,  or  how  many  oppose  him,  or  what 
may  be  the  consequence  of  persistent  obedience  to  his  prin- 
ciples ;  and  never  let  him  suppose  for  a  single  moment  that 
a  ceremonial  cleansing  of  the  hands  can  ever  exculpate  the 
guilt  that  cleaves  to  the  conscience.  But  how  often  is  it, 
that  a  person  guilty  of  a  moral  offence,  will  have  recourse  to 
a  ceremonial  rite  in  order  to  stupefy  the  conscience,  or  to  be 
a  sort  of  semblance  of  propitiation  for  the  offence  that  he 
has  committed ! 

Then  the  people  answered,  as  if  to  encourage  Pilate  in 
his  course,  "  His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children." 
There  seems  to  have  been  a  perfect  popular  frenzy,  —  a 
demoniac  inspiration,  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  "  His 
blood  be  on  us ; "  and  thanks  be  to  God  it  was  upon  them, 
but  not  on  them  to  condemn  them,  but  on  them  to  forgive 
them ;  for  to  these  very  people,  who  cried  criminally  and 
ignorantly,  "  His  blood  be  on  us,"  the  glorious  Gospel  was 
preached.  "  Repent,  and  be  converted,  and  be  baptized, 
every  one  of  you ; "  and  to  the  Jews  first  at  Jerusalem  Avas 
the  gospel  of  forgiveness  preached  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus.  God's  ways  truly  are  not  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts 
our  thoughts. 

We  then  read  of  the  mockery  of  Jesus.  The  soldiers 
arrayed  him  in  the  symbols  of  majesty  in  mockery  and 
insult,  in  order  that  they  might  grieve  him,  and  enjoy  them- 
selves by  making  sport  of  one  whom  they  believed  to  be  a 
great  criminal.  "  They  bowed  the  knee  before  him,  and 
mocked  him,  saying.  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews]  "  Just  think 
for  one  moment  who  this  was.     The  Lord  who  made  the 


368  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

heavens  and  the  earth  ;  the  King  of  Glory,  who  had  hut  to 
speak,  and  legions  of  angels  would  be  his  cohorts,  and  all 
the  armies  of  the  skies  would  obey  his  behests  instantly. 
Yet  he  voluntarily  submitted  to  shame,  that  he  might  expi- 
ate our  transgressions.  He  endured  the  cross,  that  we 
might  wear  a  blood-purchased,  but  a  glorious  and  unfading 
crown. 

We  read  next,  that  they  called  upon  Simon  of  Cyrene  to 
bear  his  cross,  or,  as  another  Evangelist  records,  to  bear  it 
along  with  Jesus.  And  they  came  to  a  place  called  Golgo- 
tha. Some  have  said  that  this  must  have  been  a  burying- 
ground,  and  called  from  that  circumstance  "  a  plac€  of  a 
skull."  But  I  do  not  think  that  such  a  fact  would  justify 
the  phrase.  It  is  literally  "  the  place  of  a  skull ; "  and  it 
has  been  said  that  the  skulls  of  the  dead  lay  upon  the 
ground  exposed.  But  the  eastern  people  were  far  more 
civilized  than  we  are  in  this  respect.  Their  burial-grounds 
were  always  out  of  the  city ;  and  such  a  thing  never  would 
have  occurred  as  the  exposure  of  the  remains  of  the  de- 
parted. The  more  probable  opinion  is,  that  this  place  was 
called  so  because  it  was  a  conical  hill,  in  shape  very  much 
like  the  human  skull ;  and  that  thus  it  came  to  be  called, 
"  The  hill,  or  the  place  of  a  skull." 

They  then  "  gave  him  vinegar  to  drink  mingled  with 
gall."  It  was  the  custom  to  give  criminals  a  stupefying 
potion :  it  was  offered  to  Jesus,  but  he  refused  it. 

They  then  crucified  him,  and  parted  his  garments,  which 
they  would  not  divide ;  thus  fulfilling  an  ancient  prophecy, 
"They  parted  my  garments  among  them,  and  upon  my  ves- 
ture did  they  cast  lots."  And  then  they  put  over  his  head 
what  they  regarded  as  his  crime,  but  what  was  his  real 
character  and  glory,  "  This  is  Jesus,  the  King  of  the  Jews." 
How  remarkable  that  the  spite  of  his  enemies  fulfilled  the 
predictions  of  tis  friends,  and  that  you  have  only  to  listen 
to  what  the  crucifiers  of   Jesus  said,  in  order  to  see  that 


MATTHEW    XXVII.  369 

God's  Word  is  truth,  and  that  holy  men  of  old  spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  then  read  the  expressions  of  contempt  and'  scorn  that 
were  applied  to  Jesus :  "  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  come 
down  from  the  cross."  "  He  saved  others ;  himself  he  can- 
not save."  Now  this  appeared  at  once  to  refute  his  preten- 
sions, but  truly  it  was  the  evidence  of  his  mission.  Because 
he  would  save  others,  therefore  he  saved  not  himself.  Be- 
cause he  would  enable  us  to  come  up  to  his  everlasting  rest, 
therefore  he  would  not  come  down  from  the  cross.  It  was 
not  the  fury  nor  the  power  of  his  foes  that  nailed  him  to 
the  cross ;  his  own  infinite  and  inexhaustible  love  held  him 
there.  It  was  not  that  he  could  not,  but  that  he  would  not, 
come  down  from  the  cross,  in  order  that  our  sins  might  be 
forgiven,  and  that  the  great  salvation  might  be  thus  accom- 
plished and  finished. 

We  then  read  that  "  from  the  sixth  hour  there  was  dark- 
ness over  all  the  land  unto  the  ninth  hour."  Very  singular 
it  is  that  several  heathen  historians  notice  that  there  was  at 
this  period  a  preternatural  darkness  over  all  the  earth. 
"And  about  the  ninth  hour,"  that  is,  three  o'clock,  or  be- 
tween the  evenings,  when  the  passover  lamb  was  slain, 
"  Jesus  cried  with  a  loud  voice,"  not  in  pure  Hebrew,  but  in 
the  Chaldaic  tongue,  "My  God,  ray  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?"  Some  who  either  misunderstood  him,  or 
did  not  know  the  language  that  he  used,  (which  seems  the 
least  likely,  however,)  or  in  mockery  and  contempt,  said, 
"  This  man  calleth  for  Elias.  And  straightway  one  of  them 
ran,"  thinking  that  he  was  now  in  great  weakness,  "  and 
took  a  sponge,  and  filled  it  with  vinegar,  and  put  it  on  a 
reed,  and  gave  him  to  drink.  The  rest  said.  Let  be,  let  us 
see  whether  Elias  will  come  to  save  him."  But  there  was 
no  answer. 

"  Jesus,  when  he  had  cried  again  with  a  loud  voice,"  indi- 
cating, not  the  exhaustion  of  his  strength,  but  the  perfection 


370  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

of  his  Sacrifice,  "  yielded  up  the  ghost."  In  a  very  remark- 
able book  written  by  an  able  physician  it  has  been  attempted 
to  be  proved  that  the  heart  of  our  blessed  Lord  broke,  and 
that  that  was  the  cause  of  his  death.  He  was  not  hanging 
long  enough  upon  the  cross  to  die  of  physical  agony  and 
exhaustion ;  and  this  physician,  in  this  elaborate  work, 
proves  from  several  incidental  circumstances,  which  it 
would  take  too  long  to  enumerate  here,  that  it  was  the 
weight  and  pressure  of  the  grief  that  was  in  that  wondrous 
heart  that  broke  it,  and  that  the  cry  with  a  loud  voice,  the 
last  expression  that  he  uttered,  was  the  evidence  that,  under 
the  weight  and  pressure  of  a  world's  transgressions,  and  in 
the  endurance  of  an  agony  that  no  human  being  has  any 
idea  of,  the  human  heart  broke,  the  soul  was  severed  from 
the  body,  and  Jesus  finished  the  great  salvation,  and  brought 
in  everlasting  righteousness ! 

We  then  read  that  "  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in 
twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom ;  and  the  earth  did  quake, 
and  the  rocks  rent ;  "  and,  what  is  very  remarkable,  the 
Roman  centurion,  a  heathen,  who  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
Prophets,  and  no  acquaintance  with  the  Gospel,  exclaimed, 
as  the  conviction  of  impartial  nature,  "  Truly,  this  was  the 
Son  of  God."  He  had  heard  that  He  was  crucified  because 
he  said  he  was  the  Son  of  God ;  and,  witnessing  all  the  sights 
that  accompanied  his  death,  he  exclaimed,  "  There  is  evi- 
dence enough  to  prove  it." 

We  then  read  of  the  women  who  followed  him  standing 
afar  off,  and  also  of  the  rich  man  of  Arimathtea,  Joseph, 
who  was  Jesus'  disciple,  and  evidently  one  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim, going  and  begging  the  body  of  Jesus,  and  taking  it, 
and  laying  it  in  his  own  new  tomb,  which  he  had  hewn,  not, 
as  in  modern  times,  from  the  surface  of  the  ground,  but  out 
of  the  rock ;  und  he  rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the 
sepulchre,  as  its  only  covering. 

The  enemies  of  Jesus  recollected  —  for  hate  remembers 


MATTHEW   XXVII.  371 

what  often  love  forgets  —  that  He  said,  "After  three  days  I 
will  rise  again  ;  "  and  in  order  to  prevent  this,  or  the  possi- 
bility of  delusion  or  deception,  they  procured  a  guard,  got 
the  stone  sealed,  and  made  every  preparation  that  it  was 
possible  to  make  in  order  to  prevent  the  disciples  from  car- 
rying the  body  away,  and  then  asserting  that  he  had  risen 
from  the  dead.  But  this  sealing  of  the  stone,  this  covering 
of  the  tomb  with  a  massy  fragment  of  rock,  which  they 
meant  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  deception,  was  used  after- 
wards, and  has  been  appealed  to,  as  one  of  the  strongest 
proofs  that  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  was  the  result  of  a 
special  miracle,  and  not  by  any  possibility,  as  was  alleged 
by  his  foes,  the  result  of  the  coming  of  his  friends  by  night, 
and  taking  away  the  body.  It  has  been  shown  from  the 
weight  of  the  stone  that  must  have  been  "at  the  entrance  of 
the  tomb,  that  it  was  utterly  impossible  that  his  disciples 
could  have  come  in  the  night,  and  stolen  the  body.  And 
thus  they  who  endeavored  to  intercept  the  result  that  must 
occur  according  to  ancient  prophecy,  facilitated  unconsciously 
the  proofs  of  the  glorious  fact,  that  Jesus  rose  from  the 
dead,  and  became  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept.  His  is 
the  only  grave  that  will  not  give  forth  its  dead  at  the  resur- 
rection morn ;  but  because  his  grave  is  empty,  and  for  ever, 
ours  shall  be  empty  when  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the 
dead  in  Christ  shall  rise,  and  so  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord. 

I  wish  to  notice  those  distinguishing  peculiarities  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  which  insulate  that  death  from  comparison 
with  all  other  deaths  that  ever  occurred  in  the  world  besides, 
and  which  mark  it  out  as  an  expiatory  or  atoning  sacrifice 
made  by  him  upon  the  cross  for  us,  and  for  our  salvation. 

In  endeavoring  to  do  so,  I  will  first  notice  the  remarkable 
accompaniments  of  his  death,  and  secondly,  those  peculiari- 
ties of  it  which  are  easily  to  be  gathered  from  the  sacred 
page,  and  which  go,  when  combined  together,  to  show  forth 
that  death,  not  as  the  expiring  of  a  martyr,  but  as  the  sacri- 


372  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

fice  of  a  victim  siifFering  in  our  stead,  and  for  our  transgres- 
sions. 

First  of  all,  then,  let  us  notice  the  events  that  accompa- 
nied, or  rather  signalized  the  death  of  Jesus.  Miracles  in- 
spired by  love,  the  expressions  of  omnipotent  power,  were 
the  accompaniments  of  his  everj-day  life.  Miracles  inspired 
by  the  same  love,  the  evidence  of  the  same  omnipotent 
power,  were  no  less  the  accompaniments  of  his  remarkable 
and  peculiar  death.  Both  miracles  —  those  that  he  did 
when  living,  and  those  that  w^ere  done  about  him  while  dy- 
ing—  were  proofs  to  the  Avorld,  as  they  are  conclusive  evi- 
dences to  us,  that  he  was  what  he  professed  to  be,  the  Son 
of  God,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  Deity,  like  the  ancient 
shechinah,  shed  its  lustre  on  his  life ;  and  Deity,  like  the 
same  shechinah,  emitted  its  brightest  glory  at  his  death  — 
heaven  and  earth,  life  and  death,  like  the  centurion  at  the 
cross,  attesting,  "  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God." 

The  first  accompaniment  of  his  death  was,  "  The  veil  of 
the  temple  was  rent  in  twain."  This  veil  was  thick,  strong 
tapestry.  It  hung  from  the  roof  downwards,  and  concealed 
the  Holy  of  Holies,  where  was  the  ark,  and  in  ancient  times 
the  glory,  and  the  cherubim,  and  the  mercy-seat ;  into  which 
the  high-priest  only  could  enter  once  a  year.  About  the 
ninth  hour,  we  read,  this  piece  of  tapestry,  extremely  strong, 
and  incapable  of  being  torn  by  human  hand,  was  rent  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom.  At  the  ninth  hour,  when  this  took 
place,  the  priests  were  engaged  in  the  great  sacrifice  that 
was  presented  upon  that  Friday.  And  upon  that  most 
memorable  occasion,  whilst  they  were  thus  engaged  in  offer- 
ing their  ceremonial  sacrifice,  how  startled  must  they  have 
been  when  they  heard  the  rending  of  the  veil,  and  looked 
up,  and  saw  laid  bare  to  the  profane  eye  that  holy  place, 
into  which  the  high-priest  alone  could  enter  once  a  year ! 
This  one  fact  occurring  so  suddenly  at  that  precise  hour, 
and  with  no  human  hand  to  rend  it,  as  no  human  hand  was  ca- 


MATTHEW    XXVII.  373 

pable  of  doing  so,  must  have  struck  the  otficiating  pr/ests  with 
a  deep  sense  of  the  presence  of  unearthly  power,  and  must, 
from  the  peculiar  nature  of  that  veil,  have  suggested  to 
them  most  instructive  and  impressive  meaning.  And  it  is 
not  improbable  that  Annas  or  Caiaphas  were  officiating  at 
the  moment,  their  hands  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  Great 
Victim  that  was  sacrificed  without :  and  if  so,  as  they  heard 
the  rending  veil,  and  felt  the  vibrating  floor,  and  the  earth- 
quake that  rocked  the  great  temple  to  its  very  foundations, 
their  consciences  must  have  smitten  them  with  presentiments 
of  coming  woe,  and  their  convictions  must  have  sympathized 
with  those  of  Judas,  that  they,  too,  like  him,  had  betrayed 
innocent  blood.  And,  perhaps,  they  may  have  recollected 
from  this  rending  of  the  veil  a  strange  scene.  The  high- 
priest  under  the  Levitical  economy  was  forbidden  to  rend 
his  garments ;  but  we  read,  that  when  Jesus  was  accused  of 
speaking  blasphemy,  the  high-priest  rent  his  garments,  a 
deed  never  done  before.  And  when  there  followed  immedi- 
ately after  this  the  rending  of  the  veil  that  concealed  the 
holy  place  from  the  gaze  of  the  human  eye,  and  laid  bare 
what  it  was  death  for  any  mortal  in  other  circumstances  to 
witness,  they  must  have  felt  that  One  more  than  man  had 
given  up  the  ghost  upon  the  mount  without,  and  that  a  vic- 
tim more  than  human  had  been  offered  up  at  that  moment 
on  the  cross  on  Calvary. 

But  this  great  fact  of  the  rending  of  the  veil,  taught  also 
some  important  lessons.  It  was  not  an  accident  caused  by 
the  separating  of  the  walls  of  the  temple,  but  it  was  a  celes- 
tial interposition  designed  to  teach  the  priests,  and  the  peo- 
ple of  the  day,  and  us,  on  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  have 
come,  that  the  instant  the  great  expiation  was  completed  on 
the  cross,  that  instant  all  the  shadows  that  preceded  him, 
according  to  the  institutions  of  Levi,  passed  way.  The  Sun 
had  risen  out  of  the  darkness  of  Le^ii,  a:id  all  the  little  stars 
that  heralded  his  advent  were  merged  and  cancelled  forever. 
32 


374  scriptukp:  readings. 

The  tide  of  life  had  risen  now,  and  overflowed  the  creeks 
and  bays  of  the  ancient  economy,  and  covered  all  that  was 
peculiar  in  the  "past,  and  brought  in  a  dispensation  infinitely 
more  precious  in  the  future.  When  the  veil  rent,  it  said  to 
Caiaphas,  and  to  the  high-priests  who  were  there,  "  Arise, 
depart;  your  sacerdotal  robes  have  now  no  more  their  sanc- 
tity ;  your  sacrifices  have  now  no  more  their  value.  Levi 
is  done  with  ;  ceremony  must  cease  ;  no  more  victims  must 
be  slain ;  the  temple  is  no  more  peculiarly  holy ;  it  has  no 
longer  a  monopoly  of  consecration ;  the  whole  earth  is  con- 
secrated as  the  temple  of  God  ;  for  the  Great  Victim  has 
suffered  on  Mount  Calvary  without.  Arise,  depart ;  your 
house  is  now  left  unto  you  desolate." 

The  rending  of  the  veil  teaches  us  a  most  significant  and 
instructive  lesson  —  namely,  that  the  way  into  the  holy  place 
is  now  open  for  all.  Recollect  that  every  thing  in  the  Jewish 
economy  was  typical.  The  outer  temple  was  for  the  people 
who  were  without,  the  holy  place  was  for  the  type  or  sym- 
bol of  Christ ;  the  high-priest  to  enter  into  only  once  a  year. 
When  this  veil  was  rent,  it  said,  by  a  Jewish  sign,  "  Now, 
all  God's  people  are  priests.  Now,  there  is  no  profane  eye. 
Wherever  there  is  a  regenerated  heart,  there  is  now  a  way 
opened  into  the  true  heavens  through  the  blood  of  sprink- 
ling." The  holy  of  holies,  once  the  monopoly  of  the  few, 
is  now  the  chancel  of  all  Christendom.  Where  the  high- 
priest  alone  might  worship,  all  God's  people  may  now  adore. 
The  glory  is  quenched  between  the  cherubim  by  the  advent 
of  a  yet  brighter  glory.  The  pathway  is  opened  by  the 
rending  of  the  veil  into  heaven  itself.  The  way  to  glory  is 
now  revealed  so  plainly,  that  the  wayfaring  man  cannot 
mistake  it.  It  is  not  in  a  temple  fane,  nor  in  a  cathedral's 
aisle ;  but  it  winds  through  every  valley,  it  ascends  every 
mountain  crag,  it  is  on  the  deck  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean,  it 
sweeps  through  the  lines  of  conflicting  foemen  upon  the  field 
of  battle ;  wherever  there  is  a  heart  that  knows  the  truth, 


MATTHEW    XXVIT.  375 

and  believes  in  Jesus,  there  there  is  a  traveller,  a  pilgrim, 
and  a  stranger  marching  to  the  holy  place,  and  finding  access 
through  the  rent  veil,  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  into  the 
holiest  of  all,  the  sanctuary,  and  the  presence  of  God.  That 
this  is  the  true  idea  is  obvious  from  what  the  apostle  says 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  he  tells  us,  "  Having 
therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the  holiest  by  the 
blood  of  Jesus,"  —  no  Jew  dare  enter  —  his  boldness  would 
have  been  rashness  and  indiscretion,  if  he  had  tried  to 
approach  the  place  where  the  high-priest  alone  might  enter 
—  "  by  a  new  and  living  way"  —  new  as  to  its  revelation, 
but  old  as  to  its  existence ;  and  a  living  way :  an  earthly 
way  wearies  the  foot  of  him  who  walks  it,  and  the  longer 
that  he  walks,  the  more  fatigued  he  becomes ;  but  this  living 
way  imparts  life  and  vigor  to  him  who  treads  it,  so  that  the 
longer  you  walk  in  it,  the  stronger  you  become,  till,  in  the 
language  of  the  prophet,  you  run,  and  are  not  weary ;  you 
walk,  and  are  never  faint  —  but  "a  new  and  living  way, 
which  Christ  has  consecrated  for  us,  through  the  veil "  — 
there  is  the  allusiornto  this  fact  —  "  that  is  to  say,  his  flesh; 
and  being  ourselves,"  as  if  he  had  said,  "  true  priests,  a  king- 
dom of  priests  ;  and  having  over  us  a  High-Priest,  that  is, 
Jesus  ;  let  us  draw  near  with  a  true  heart  in  full  assurance 
of  faith,"  quite  satisfied  that  we  are  welcome,  and  that  where 
the  high-priest  alone  might  tread  before,  now  all  God's 
people  may  walk  — "  having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an 
evil  conscience,  and  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water." 
Hebrews  x.  19-22.  Here  then  is  the  significance  of  this 
rending. 

Now,  I  ask,  could  this  rending  of  the  veil  be  an  accident  ? 
Is  it  not  evident  that  it  was  done  by  design,  and  that  the 
Apostle  Paul  has  given  the  true  and  the  only  commentary 
upon  the  fact  —  namely,  that  it  was  a  declaration  to  Jew 
and  Gentile,  that  now  the  way  to  heaven  was  for  every 
man  that  would  walk  in  it,  and  that  no  eye  is  so  v/dgar,  that 


376  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

it  may  not  gaze,  through  Christ,  upon  the  celestial  glory ; 
and  that  no  feet  are  so  common,  that  they  may  not  tread  the 
path  that  leads  to  heaven  ;  and  that  no  Gentile  is  so  far  off, 
that  he  is  not  welcome  to  come,  and  be  a  fellow-heir  with 
the  saints  of  the  inheritance  of  God  in  glory  ?  Let  us  thank 
God  that  the  veil  is  rent ;  let  us  bless  him  that  there  is  a 
way  to  heaven ;  let  us  praise  him  that  we  know  of  that  way ; 
let  us  rejoice  and  be  thankful  that  no  man  can  fill  it  up, 
and  resolve  that  by  God's  grace  we  will  not  suffer  it  to  be 
filled  up,  concealed,  or  hidden,  whilst  there  is  a  Bible  in  our 
hand,  and  the  noble  privilege  of  liberty  to  read  it.  What  is 
the  Jew  doing  in  the  present  day?  Laboring  to  restore  the 
veil.  What  does  the  Tractarian  attempt  ?  To  sew  up  the 
rent.  What  has  the  Romanist  done  ?  Built  up  a  huge  wall 
instead  of  it.  And  what  is  Protestantism?  Proclaiming 
that  the  veil  is  rent ;  the  upheaving  of  the  foundations  of 
every  obstruction ;  and  the  proclamation  to  all  Christendom 
that  there  is  a  way  to  heaven  so  broad,  that  the  greatest  sin- 
ner may  walk  it ;  but  so  holy,  that  his  first  step  is  accom- 
panied by  the  surrender  of  the  burd^  of  all  his  trans- 
gressions. 

We  read  next  that  there  was  a  great  earthquake.  If  you 
are  a  believer  in  accidents,  you  might  suppose  that  this  was 
an  accident ;  but  as  one  in  a  category  of  so  remarkable  phe- 
nomena, which  were  clearly  divine,  we  must  infer  that  this 
fact  was  not  the  mere  explosion  of  a  central  gas,  but  an 
unearthly  shudder  of  creation,  because  of  the  death  of  crea- 
tion's Lord.  It  may  have  been  that  this  earthquake  was 
because  nature  trembled  to  her  heart  that  a  deed  so  terrible 
was  done  ;  or  it  may  have  been  that  nature  rejoiced  through- 
out all  her  economy  that  the  price  of  her  deliverance  was 
paid,  that  the  sacrifice  was  completed,  which  shall  be  followed 
by  her  groans  ceasing,  her  travail  ending,  and  her  emartci- 
pation  from  the  curs-e,  and  introduction  into  the  sunshine 
and  glory  of  the  better  land,  the  necessary  and  happy  issue 


MATTHEW  xxvir.  377 

of  it.  It  was  the  sign  from  below  attesting  to  the  cry  from 
the  cross,  "  It  is  finished."  It  was  the  shaking  of  those 
things  that  are,  that  those  things  might  appear  that  never 
can  be  shaken.  It  was  the  declaration  to  the  Jew,  combined 
with  the  rending  of  the  veil,  that  all  his  ancient  economy- 
had  served  its  end,  that  it  now  was  dispensed  with,  and  that 
there  was  no  longer  the  exclusive  possession  of  Israel ;  but 
that  now,  neither  on  this  mountain,  nor  on  that,  but  every- 
where the  true  worshipper  might  worship  the  Father. 

We  read  also,  that  the  rocks  rent.  Very  singular  it  is 
that  in  almost  all  the  travels  I  have  read  of  persons  who 
have  visited  Jerusalem,  it  is  stated  that  there  are  huge  rocks 
in  its  neighborhood  with  fissures  or  rents  so  singular,  and  so 
completely  across  the  grain,  that  they  seem  to  have  been 
caused  by  some  supernatural  or  extraordinary  interposition 
or  force.  Whether  they  be  some  of  the  very  rocks  that  rent 
when  Jesus  died,  we  cannot  say ;  but  the  tradition,  if  that 
be  of  any  value,  of  all  who  have  visited  the  spot,  intimates 
that  these  rocks  are  remaining  specimens  of  the  truth ;  that 
when  Christ  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  exclaimed,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  joy,  "It  is  finished,"  the  rocks,  more  susceptible  of 
impression  than  the  priests,  scribes,  and  Pharisees,  rent,  and 
gave  sign  that  no  common  deed  was  done,  that  no  common 
sacrifice  was  then  completed. 

We  read  next,  that  there  accompanied  this  death  the 
opening  of  the  graves.  Perhaps  the  rending  of  the  rocks 
was  not  so  much  the  result  of  the  earthquake,  and  a  mere 
sign  of  nature  testifying  to  the  deed  that  was  done ;  but,  as 
all  the  graves  of  the  Jews  were  in  cavities  of  rocks,  the 
rending  of  the  rocks  may  be  associated  with  the  opening  of 
the  graves ;  and  that  all  that  is  meant  to  be  taught  by  the 
rocks  rending,  is  simply  that  the  graves  that  contained  the 
buried  dead  of  4,000  years,  opened  on  that  occasion  ;  for  it 
is  said,  "  The  earth  did  quake,  and  tho  rocks  rent ;  and  the 
gi'aves  were  opened  "  —  these  graves  were  in  cavities  or  hol- 
32* 


378  SCRIPTUUE    READINGS. 

lows  of  rocks  —  "  and  many  bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept 
arose  ; "  but  they  did  not  come  forth  then,  for  it  is  stated 
very  simply,  but  very  intelligibly,  "and  came  but  of  the 
graves  after  his  resurrection,"  not,  you  observe,  at  his  death 
—  as  if  Christ  must  be  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept, 
and  no  grave  could  be  unsealed  and  give  forth  its  dead,  till 
Jesus  had  taken  away  its  victory,  and  deprived  death  of  its 
sting.  It  was  thus  then  that  the  virtue  of  the  resurrection 
and  the  death  of  Jesus  penetrated  the  graves  of  4,000 
years,  and  many  of  the  dead  came  forth.  Very  probably 
Simeon  and  Anna  and  John  the  Baptist  rose  from  the  dead 
at  that  time.  Very  probably,  some  of  the  ancient  prophets 
who  had  long  slept,  arose.  Not  improbably,  Abraham,  whose 
burial  we  have  been  recently  reading  of  in  the  Book  of  Gen- 
esis, and  Sarah,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  may  have  risen  from 
the  dead,  and  are  now  in  that  glory,  of  which  we  *that 
believe  are  the  destined  participators  ;  and  they  rose,  the 
dead  of  a  thousand  years,  to  prove  that  the  virtue  of  Christ's 
death  extended  backward  to  the  first  saint,  and  will  extend 
forward  to  the  last.  Graves  that  had  been  shut  for  many 
thousand  years,  heard  the  cry,  "  It  is  finished,"  ring  through 
their  silent  caverns,  and  the  cold  dust  of  many  a  gray-haired 
patriarch  was  warmed  in  its  silent  urn,  and  stirred  and 
awakened  from  its  long  lethargy,  and  now  has  rejoined  the 
waiting  and  glorified  spirit,  and  is  where  God's  people  will 
all  be,  for  ever  in  glory,  the  true  holy  place,  and  with  the 
Lord. 

Such,  then,  were  sipme  of  the  historical  phenomena  that 
accompanied  Christ's  death.  Let  me  notice  now  two  or 
three  peculiarities  of  this  death,  which  single  it  out  as  some- 
thing unique.  I  will  mention  only  a  few  this  evening,  and 
reserve  the  rest  for  next  Sunday  evening.  Was  this  the 
death  of  a  patient  martyr,  or  of  an  illustrious  sacrifice  ? 
Was  there  any  thing  in  the  mode  or  in  the  circumstances 
of  the  death  of  Jesus,  that  demonstrate  to  us  that  he  died, 


MATTHEW  xxvir.  879 

not  like  Paul,  or  Peter,  or  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  but 
bearing  the  load  of  a  world's  transgressions,  and  making 
expiation  for  the  sins  of  all  that  believe  ?  Let  me  call  your 
attention  to  the  following  statements  that  show  there  was  in 
the  death  of  Christ  that  which  was  in  no  other,  and  that  it 
occupies  a  place  in  the  sacred  volume  so  great,  prominent, 
and  peculiar,  that  if  Jesus  did  not  die  a  sacrifice,  the  apos- 
tles did  not  know  how  to  write,  the  Bible  is  a  fable,  Chris- 
tianity a  delusion,  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins  a  fantasy,  and 
nothing  more. 

First,  then,  the  death  of  Jesus  was  predestinated  from 
everlasting.  It  was  not  a  new  scheme  originated  at  the 
time,  in  order  to  cover  an  untoward  event  in  the  past;  but 
it  was  a  great  fact  predestinated  in  the  councils  of  heaven 
long  before  the  world  was  created.  The  evidence  of  it  is 
(Acts  ii.  23),  "  Him,  being  delivered  by  the  determinate 
counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by 
wicked  hands  have  crucified  and  slain."  Here,  then,  it  is 
stated  that  Jesus  died  according  to  the  purpose  and  the  de- 
cree of  God ;  that  it  was  absolutely  impossible  it  could  be 
otherwise;  that  it  was  fixed  from  everlasting  that  Jesus 
should  be  crucified  by  those  hands,  by  those  decisions,  at 
that  hour,  and  under  those  circumstances.  You  say,  per- 
haps, what  a  distinguished  individual,  who  has  written  a 
book  containing  the  biography  of  an  eminent  statesman, 
says  —  and  strangely  says,  for  a  highly  educated  and  ac- 
complished scholar  and  literary  genius  such  as  he  is,  —  that 
the  crucifiers  were  as  necessary  as  the  Crucified,  and  that 
there  was  no  more  sin  in  crucifying  Jesus  than  there  could 
be  sin  in  Je^sus  submitting  to  be  crucified.  The  answer  to 
this  very  mistaken  reasoning  is  obvious  :  "  Him,  being  de- 
livered by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of 
God,"  —  there  is  the  purpose  —  "  ye  have  taken,  and  bj 
wicked  hands,"  —  there  is  your  guilt  notwithstanding  — 
"  have  crucified  and  slain."     Here,  then,  instead  of  entering 


380  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

on  a  metaphysical  discussion  as  to  how  God's  purpose  and 
man's  responsibility  can  be  reconciled,  we  answer  that  the 
fulfiller  of  a  prophecy  is  in  a  very  different  position  from 
the  performer  of  a  precept.  He  who  does  what  is  bidden, 
does  what  is  right ;  but  he  who  fulfils,  consciously  or  un- 
consciously, a  prophecy,  is  in  a  very  different  position.  The 
Jews  of  their  own  freewill  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory,  and 
on  their  souls  the  stain  of  that  great  transgression  rests  at 
this  moment.  It  is,  therefore,  not  true  that  because  the 
Crucified  was  predestinated,  the  crucifiers  were  therefore 
innocent.  The  best  answer  to  such  an  assertion  is  the  one 
I  have  given  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that,  whatever 
was  God's  purpose,  they  by  wicked  hands  carried  it  out. 
Never  cease  to  distinguish  between  doing  duty,  which  is 
obedience  to  God's  revealed  precepts,  and  fulfilling  prophecy, 
which,  conscious  or  unconscious,  is  in  no  case  meritorious, 
however  persons  may  frequently  confound  these  two  things. 
It  was  predicted  that  the  Jews  should  be  a  byword  and  a 
scoff  of  all  nations,  —  that  they  should  have  the  wandering 
foot  and  the  weary  soul,  —  that  they  should  be  cursed,  and 
hated,  and  persecuted  of  all  nations  to  the  end.  That  is 
the  prophecy ;  but  if  you  were  to  go  and  maltreat  a  Jew, 
as  they  did  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  as  they  do  in  the 
Ghetto  at  Rome  still,  and  you  were  to  answer,  "  I  do  it,  be- 
cause God  predicted  it ; "  I  should  answer,  It  is  God's 
exclusive  prerogative  to  mind  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy ; 
it  is  your  sacred  duty  to  do  to  your  neighbor  as  you  would 
wish  your  neighbor  to  do  to  you.  No  attempted  fulfilment 
of  a  prophecy  on  our  part  can  excuse  a  wrong  done ;  it  is 
our  duty  to  fulfil  the  precepts  given  to  us ;  it  is  God's  pre- 
rogative to  carry  out  the  prophecy  that  he  has  given.  Man 
does  right  when  he  obeys  the  command ;  he  steps  out  of  his 
own  province  into  that  of  God,  when  he  attempts  to  fulfil 
ancient  prophecy. 

In  the  next  place,  as  the  death  of  Christ  was  predes- 


MATTHEW  xxvir.  SBM 

tinated  from  everlasting  ages,  this  eternal  purpose  shaped 
itself  into  frequent  prophecies ;  and  in  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  we  read  that  Jesus  was  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions ;  that  the  woman's  seed  should  bruise  the  serpent's 
head ;  that  he  should  be  cut  off  for  sins,  but  not  for  him- 
self; or,  to  give  the  summary  contained  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  iii.  18,  "  God  befoj-e  hath  showed  by  the  mouth  of 
all  his  prophets  that  Christ  should  suffer."  God  purposed 
it,  therefore  it  was  prophesied.  It  was  his  secret  purpose 
from  everlasting ;  it  became,  therefore,  his  repeated  proph- 
ecy by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  servants  of  old.  Now,  I  wish 
you  to  notice  that  no  other  death  was  thus  predestinated,  — 
no  other  death  was  thus  prophesied :  and  the  fact  that  so 
much  of  God's  secret  purpose,  and  so  large  a  part  of  God's 
prophecy,  is  concerned  with  the  death  of  Jesus,  is  presump- 
tive evidence  that  there  was  something  in  that  death  more 
than  in  the  death  of  sainted  apostles,  or  of  patient  martyrs 
of  any  age  or  of  any  dispensation. 

Again,  it  is  frequently  asserted  in  Scripture  that  it  was 
absolutely  necessary  that  Christ  should  die,  and  his  own 
language  shows  it ;  for  he  said,  "  0  my  Father,  if  it  be  pos- 
sible, let  this  cup  pass  from  me."  That  was  human  nature 
shrinking  in  its  agony  from  the  terrible  trial.  But  he  adds, 
what  he  only  could  add,  "  Nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as 
thou  wilt."  Again,  he  says,  (Luke  xxiv.  46,)  "  Thus  it  is 
written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise 
from  the  dead  the  third  day."  And  again,  he  says,  (John 
iii.  14,)  "As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness, 
even  so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up."  It  was  not 
necessary  because  it  was  predicted;  but  it  was  predicted 
because  it  was  necessary.  But,  you  say,  how  could  Christ's 
death  be  so  necessary  as  this  ?  I  answer,  God  so  loved 
you  and  me,  that  he  w^as  willing  to  do  any  thing  in  the  uni- 
verse to  save  us,  except  stain  his  own  glory,  that  is,  break 
his  own  law,  —  that  is,  cease  to  be  God  and  Governor  of 


382  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  world  at  all;  and  the  one  thing  that  would  meet  the 
necessities  of  the  case  was  the  death  of  Christ,  so  that  it 
should  be  said  of  him,  "  He  saved  others ;  himself  he  can- 
not save."  To  save  others,  himself  he  would  not  save; 
and  because  he  would  save  others,  therefore  himself  could 
not  be  saved.  It  was  therefore  absolutely  necessary  that 
Jesus  should  die. 

I  state,  in  the  next  place,  that  the  death  of  Christ  excites 
the  intensest  interest  in  heaven.  The  language  of  Scrip- 
ture is,  (1  Pet.  i.  12,)  "  These  things  the  angels  desire  to 
look  into."  These  words  in  the  original  are  most  expres- 
sive. They  denote  intense  curiosity  which  they  seek  to 
gratify.  And  you  remember  that  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Transfiguration  on  Mount  Tabor,  Moses  and  Elijah  came 
down  from  their  celestial  seats,  and  spent  an  hour  upon  the 
sunlit  Mount,  and  talked  with  Jesus  of  what?  Of  his 
glory  ?  —  of  his  conquests  ?  —  of  his  miracles  ?  No  ;  but 
of  the  death  that  he  should  sufi^er  at  Jerusalem.  What  an 
evidence  is  this  that  the  death  of  Christ  must  be  the  subject 
of  intense  interest  in  glory.  Celestial  visitants  left  the 
thrones  which  had  been  assigned  to  them,  and  the  enjoyment 
of  the  beatific  vision,  and  descend  to  the  Mount  of  Trans- 
figuration, and  there  speak  of  a  topic  which  was  uppermost 
in  heaven,  though  least  at  that  moment  regarded  upon 
earth,  —  the  death  and  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God. 

I  notice,  in  the  next  place,  that  the  sacred  penmen  attach 
immense  importance  to  the  death  of  Jesus.  "  Herein  is 
love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent 
his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  ouj.*  sins."  (1  John  iv.  10.) 
Again,  "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son."  Again,  "  God 
forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  Christ." 
Again,  "  While  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." 
(Rom.  V.  8.)  Now,  why  this  constant  reference  to  Christ's 
death  ?  Why  not  speak  of  Paul's,  or  of  Peter's  ?  Why 
not  speak  of  the  death  of  some  of  the  ancient  prophets  ? 


AfcA-TTHEW    XXVII.  383 

The  inference  from  this  is,  what  I  am  trying  to  establish, 
and  what  will  come  out  with  cumulative  force  by  the  collec- 
tion of  all  these  facts  and  features,  that  there  was  in  Christ's 
death  what  there  was  not  in  any  other  death  that  ever  was 
or  will  be ;  and  that  therefore  it  occupies  a  space  in  heaven 
and  in  the  Scriptures  far  —  far  above  and  beyond  the  space 
occupied  by  any  other  death  upon  record. 

Again,  those  who  died  in  the  ancient  economy  looked  for- 
ward to  Christ's  death  with  intense  interest.  "  Your  father 
Abraham"  rejoiced  to  see  my  day ;  and  he  saw  it,  and  was 
glad."  (John  viii.  56.)  And  again,  our  Lord  says,  (Luke 
xxiv.  44—46,)  "  These  are  the  words  which  I  spake  unto 
you,  while  I  was  yet  with  you,  that  all  things  must  be  ful- 
filled, which  were  written  in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  in  the 
prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms,  concerning  rae.  Then  opened 
he  their  understanding,  that  they  might  understand  the 
Scriptures,  and  said  unto  them.  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus 
it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the 
third  day."  That  death  is  thus  viewed  as  a  central  fact,  — 
the  fact  to  which  all  the  patriarchs  of  old  looked  forward,  — 
the  fact  to  which  all  the  saints  in  modern  times  look  back- 
ward ;  and  therefore  it  is  possessed  of  a  dignity,  a  gran- 
deur, and  a  value  that  no  other  death  is  clothed  with, 
either  in  the  annals  of  inspiration,  or  in  the  history  of  the 
world. 

Again,  I  notice  that  Jesus  did  not  deserve,  even  taking 
the  accusations  of  his  foes,  to  die  according  to  the  Law  of 
Moses.  The  false  witnesses  that  were  suborned  to  testify 
against  him  could  only  say  that  he  said,  "  I  am  able  to  de- 
stroy the  temple  of  God^  and  to  build  it  in  three  days."  So 
contemptible  appeared  this  crime  imputed  to  him,  that  Pon- 
tius Pilate  passed  it  by  as  unworthy  of  notice  when  acting 
in  his  judicial  capacity ;  and  the  only  offence  imputed  to 
him  was  that  he  called  himseJf  the  Son  of  God.  This  he 
did  not  deny.     They  said  he  blasphemed  ;  he  protested  that 


384  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

he  was  what  he  proclaimed  himself  to  he,  the  Lord  of 
glory,  the  Son  of  God,  Deity  enshrined  and  manifest  in  the 
flesh. 

In  the  next  place,  he  did  not  deserve  to  die  according  to 
the  laws  of  the  Roman  government.  The  crime  that  was 
meant  to  enlist  all  the  hostilities  of  Csesar  against  him  was, 
that  he  called  himself  a  King ;  but  his  own  definition  of  his 
kingly  jurisdiction  is,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  :  if 
my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants 
fight."  My  kingdom  is  not  meat,  nor  drink,  nor  bayonet, 
nor  shot,  nor  shell,  but  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  therefore  he  had  committed  no 
crime  that  could  possibly,  with  any  reasonableness,  draw 
down  upon  his  head  the  condemnation  of  the  Roman  people. 

And  he  had  committed  no  offence  against  God;  for  on 
the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  the  Voice  said,  "  This  is  my 
beloved  Son ; "  and  in  the  hour  of  his  baptism  the  same 
Voice  said,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son."  The  apostles  say 
that  he  was  holy,  harmless,  and  undefiled ;  that  he  who 
knew  no  sin  was  made  sin  for  us. 

Then,  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  he  who  had  committed 
no  crime  against  the  religion  of  his  country,  no  offence 
against  its  laws,  and  no  sin  in  the  sight  of  a  holy  God,  be- 
came the  greatest  sufferer,  and  died  the  most  agonizing 
death  —  a  death  so  fraught  with  agony,  that  his  great  and 
beneficent  heart  burst  beneath  its  pressure,  while  he  cried  in 
the  agony  of  his  feelings,  "  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabacthani  ?  — 
My  God,  my "  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ? "  The 
only  possible  solution  of  this  most  extraordinary  phenome- 
non is,  that  he  occupied  the  sinner's  place ;  that  the  spotless 
Lamb  was  laid  upon  the  altar,  that  the  stray  sheep  might 
be  reclaimed,  forgiven,  and  restored.  The  law  of  God's 
universe  is,  that  holiness  is  happiness,  and  that  sin  is  misery. 
Then  how  comes  it  to  pass  tjiat  a  Being  who  was  Incarnate 
Holiness,  was  yet  the  greatest  sufferer?     God's  law  was 


MATTHEW   XXVII.  385 

broken,  —  God's  providence  was  defied,  —  God's  sceptre  was 
treated  with  contempt,  —  if  Christ  died  in  any  other  capacity 
than  that  of  a  Sacrifice  and  Sin  bearer,  bearing  on  his  own 
body  the  sins  of  all  that  beheve. 

And  again,  I  notice  that  Christ's  death  was  voluntary. 
Now,  this  is  a  remarkable  fact.  He  did  not  die  by  constraint, 
but  voluntarily.  When  his  enemies  tried  to  seize  him  and 
put  him  to  death  before,  he  evaded  them,  because  his  hour 
was  not  come ;  but  when  the  epochal  hour  of  Christendom 
sounded  from  the  heavens,  and  the  time  was  come  when  the 
great  Victim  must  suffer,  and  the  grand  Sacrifice  must  be 
completed,  then  he  refused  the  aid  of  Peter's  sword,  and  told 
him  that  legions  of  angels  were  at  his  service  if  he  chose  to 
appeal  to  them ;  "  but  how  then,"  said  he,  "  shall  the  Scrip- 
tures be  fulfilled,  that  thus  it  must  be  ? "  "I  lay  down  my 
life,"  he  said,  "  that  I  might  take  it  again.  No  man  taketh 
it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  power  to 
lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again."  If  Christ 
were  not  God,  he  was  a  suicide ;  and  if  I  were  a  Socinian, 
I  should  infer  that  crime  from  that  strange  language.  I 
have  no  power  to  lay  down  my  life ;  it  is  not  at  my  disposal. 
I  have  received  it  as  a  stewardship,  and  I  possess  it  till 
the  great  Proprietor  takes  it  back  to  himself.  But  Jesus 
said,  "  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to 
take  it  again  "  —  I  have  jurisdiction  over  life ;  "  no  man 
taketh  it  from  me."  That  was  the  language  of  suicide,  or 
it  was  the  language,  which  we  know  it  was,  of  God  man- 
ifest in  the  flesh.  His  ^sacrifice  and  death,  therefore,  were 
voluntary. 

In  the  next  place,  the  intensity  of  the  agony  that  Jesus 
endured  showed  that  his  death  was  something  very  peculiar. 

Read  the  death  of  any  martyr,  and  if  Christ's  sufferings 
were  purely  physical,  I  say  that  Paul,  and  Peter,  and  some 
of  the  martyrs  of  the  1 6th  century,  exhibited  a  magnanim- 
ity and  a  quietness  greater  than  what  appears  to  have  been 
33 


386  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

exhibited  by  Jesus.  I  say,  if  Jesus  died  a  mere  martyr,  his 
sufferings  are  not  without  parallel  —  his  death  is  not  without 
a  precedent.  Others  have  as  nobly  and  magnanimously 
died  as  he,  if  he  were  only  a  suffering  and  a  patient  martyr. 
But  can  I  explain  such  sorrow  as  this  on  the  supposition 
that  he  was  no  more  ?  He  began,  we  are  told,  to  be  in  great 
heaviness  and  amazement  of  mind ;  he  prayed  in  his  agony 
three  times,  and  the  intensity  of  the  mental  and  moral  op- 
pression on  his  soul  was  so  great,  that  he  sweat  great  drops 
of  blood  upon  the  ground.  I  think  that  is  the  most  awful 
expression,  as  it  was  the  most  awful  feature,  of  that  singular, 
peculiar,  unparalleled  agony.  And  again,  when  He  looked 
forward  to  what  was  before  him,  he  said,  "  If  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me."  And  again,  he  said,  "  My  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  If  Christ  had  been  merely 
a  patient  martyr,  God  never  would  have  forsaken  him. 
God  never  forsook  a  martyr  yet ;  but  the  fact  that  Christ 
was  forsaken  is  the  proof  that  he  was  more  than  a  martyr. 
He  was  forsaken,  that  we  might  never  be  forsaken.  And 
any  one  who  will  examine  what  the  word  "  travail "  means 
—  "  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul "  —  and  apply 
that  expression  to  the  heart,  the  soul,  the  mind,  will  under- 
stand that  it  conveys,  as  it  does  to  those  who  can  thoroughly 
appreciate  it,  a  deep  and  awful  sense  of  the  agony  endured 
by  the  Son  of  God.  All  this,  then,  indicates  that  his  death 
was  no  common  one ;  and  it  is  a  step  towards  the  conclusion 
which  we  shall  arrive  at  by  subsequent  details,  that  he  died 
a  Sacrifice,  and  not  simply  a  martyr. 

And  lastly,  I  notice  to-night  that  unless  there  was  some- 
thing in  Christ's  death  totally  different  from  what  character- 
izes the  death  of  any  sufferer,  his  death  was  a  calamity.  I 
cannot  see  what  was  the  use  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  unless  it 
be  regarded  as  a  Sacrifice.  It  did  not  give  an  impulse  to 
his  religion,  but  was  calculated  to  impede  it ;  for  one  of  the 
strongest  objections  to  the  Gospel  is,  that  it  has  its  commence- 


MATTHEW    XXVII.  387 

ment  with  the  Crucified.  And  if  that  death  was  not  re- 
quired because  a  Sacrifice  was  demanded,  it  was  a  death 
uncalled  for  and  unnecessary ;  but  on  the  supposition  that  it 
was,  what  we  allege  it  was,  a  Sacrifice,  an  Atonement  for 
our  sins,  it  was  necessary  and  inevitable.  It  is  the  glory  of 
our  religion,  it  is  the  element  of  our  hope. 

Give  us  a  Socinian  religion,  and  we  have  a  cross  without 
glory,  a  religion  without  a  sacrifice,  an  eternity  without  a 
hope,  and  a  grave  without  a  beam  to  irradiate  it,  or  a  path- 
way to  strike  through  it  to  that  rest  that  remaineth  for  the 
people  of  God. 


Note.  —  [29.]  It  does  not  appear  whether  the  purpose  of  the  crown 
was  to  wound,  or  simply  for  mockery ;  and  equally  uncertain  is  it  of 
what  kind  of  thorns  it  was  composed.  The  acanthus  itself,  with  its 
large  succulent  leaves,  is  singularly  unfit  for  such  a  purpose ;  as  is  the 
plant  with  very  long  sharp  thorns,  known  as  Spinn  Christi,  being  a 
brittle  acacia,  (robinia,)  and  the  very  length  of  the  thorns,  which  would 
meet  in  the  middle  if  it  were  bent  into  a  wreath,  precluding  it.  Some 
flexile  shrub  or  plant  must  be  understood,  —  possibly  some  variety  of 
the  cactus  or  prickly  pear.  Hasselquist,  a  Swedish  naturalist,  supposes 
a  very  common  plant,  —  naba  or  nabka  of  the  Arabs,  with  many  small 
spines ;  soft,  round,  and  pliant  branches  ;  leaves  much  resembling  ivy, 
of  a  very  deep  green,  as  if  in  designed  mockery  of  a  victor's  wreath.  — • 
Travels,  288,  1766  (cited  by  'F.*M.).—Alford. 


CHAPTER     XXVIII. 

THE    RESURRECTION  —  THE     SABBATH  —  MISREPRESENTATIONS     OP 
SCRIBES,   AND   PHARISEES,   AND    SOLDIERS   SIFTED   AND    SHOWN. 

You  may  first  of  all  observe  that  the  precautions  taken 
by  the  scribes,  the  Pharisees,  and  the  elders,  were  overruled 
to  be  the  completest  and  the  most  triumphant  evidences  of 
the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You  recollect 
that  in  the  previous  chapter  a  deputation  of  the  priests  and 
the  Pharisees  came  to  Pilate,  and  stated  that  they  had  heard 
that  Jesus  had  predicted  that  on  the  third  day  he  would  rise 
again  from  the  dead.  They  said  they  did  not  beheve  any 
such  prophecy  ;  but  lest  some  trick  should  be  played,  and 
the  disciples  and  apostles  should  come  and  steal  the  body  of 
Jesus,  and  pretend  he  had  risen,  let  us,  said  this  deputation, 
place  a  large  stone  at  the  mouth  of  the  sepulchre ;  let  us 
plant  beside  it  a  Roman  watch  —  men  who  would  rather 
have  encountered  death,  than  have  betrayed  their  duty  — 
and  take  every  requisite  precaution  in  order  that  the  disciples 
may  not  carry  away  the  dead  body  of  their  Master,  and 
spread  the  apocryphal  report,  that  Jesus  who  was  crucified 
for  his  crimes  has  actually  risen  from  the  dead.  These  pre- 
cautions were  taken.  Pilate  said,  "  Ye  have  a  watch,"  that 
is,  a  competent  body  of  soldiers ;  "  go  your  way,  make  it  as 
sure  as  ye  can."  It  turns  out,  that  while  man  in  his  folly 
devised  the  precaution,  that  precaution  was  overruled  by  the 
wisdom  of  God,  to  be  the  most  triumphant  proof  that  Jesus 


MATTHEW   XXVIII.  389 

had  actually  risen  from  the  dead.  We  shall  see  that  that 
was  so,  as  we  proceed  to  unfold  the  simple  and  short  narra- 
tive that  is  here  before  us. 

"  In  the  end  of  the  Sabbath  "  denotes  at  the  close  of  Satur- 
day, the  Sabbath  of  the  Jews,  and  towards  the  dawn,  or  after 
the  dawn  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  Sunday  or  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Christians.  It  has  been  said,  that  if  the 
fourth  commandment  be  obligatory  at  all,  it  refers  to  Satur- 
day, and  not  to  what  we  Christians  call  Sunday.  It  would 
be  too  long  now,  and  too  irrelevant  to  the  chapter  to  intro- 
duce the  proofs ;  but  my  answer  to  that  statement  is,  that 
the  Fourth  Commandment  insists  upon  this:  six  days 
devoted  to  labor,  and  a  seventh  day  devoted  to  thoughts, 
studies,  and  preparations  for  the  world  to  come,  in  connection 
with  God,  revealed  truth,  tlie  soul,  eternity.  The  Fourth 
Commandment  does  not  insist  upon  the  seventh  day  in 
numerical  order,  but  only  upon  the  seventh  portion  of  our 
time,  or  one  day  in  seven.  The  moral,  the  eternal,  is  a 
seventh  portion  of  our  time  devoted  to  religious  studies, 
rehgious  reading,  religious  thought,  religious  subjects.  The 
ceremonial  is  the  Saturday  with  the  Jews,  or  the  Sunday 
with  the  Christians.  Whether  it  be  the  first  or  the  seventh 
day  of  the  week  is  a  ceremonial  question ;  but  that  it  shall 
be  the  seventh  portion  of  our  time,  or  one  day  in  seven,  is 
a  moral,  an  enduring,  and  obligatory  command  of  God  him- 
self. And  that  this  must  be  so  is  obvious  from  the  simple 
fact,  that  the  ceremonial  is  impracticable  everywhere.  For 
instance,  when  it  is  Saturday  here,  it  will  be  at  the  antipodes 
a  day  in  advance ;  that  is  to  say,  our  Saturday  will  be  at  the 
antipodes  Sunday ;  and  if  you  proceed  half-way  eastward, 
you  will  be  so  much  as  twelve  hours  in  advance  ;  so  much 
so,  that  sailors  have  often  in  the  course  of  their  voyages  mis- 
taken the  days  of  the  week.  Ceremonially,  it  is  absolutely 
impossible  to  keep  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  everywhere  ; 
for  while  A.  is  keeping  the  seventh,  B.  is  keeping  half  the 
33* 


390  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

seventh  and  half  the  first ;  and  C.  in  another  part  of  the  world 
is  keeping  the  first.  But  God's  laws  are  moral  laws ;  and 
what  is  moral  is  obligatory  in  all  latitudes  and  all  longitudes, 
everywhere  and  always.  "  Thou  shall  not  steal  "  is  as  bind- 
ing at  the  antipodes  as  in  London,  and  as  practicable  at  the 
antipodes  as  it  is  in  London.  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill "  is  bind- 
ing everywhere ;  and  so  the  observance  of  a  seventh  day 
kept  for  rehgious,  devotional,  Christian  studies  is  duty  every- 
where; but  the  specific  day  in  numerical  order  is  to  be 
gathered,  whether  the  seventh  or  the  first,  from  the  usage  of 
the  apostles,  from  the  hints  of  the  New  Testament,  and  from 
the  practice  of  the  Christian  Church  always  and  everywhere 
from  the  beginning.  We  think,  therefore,  there  are  suffi- 
cient grounds,  on  which  I  do  not  now  enter,  for  the  change 
of  the  Sabbath  from  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  to  the 
first.  And  surely,  it  does  seem  a  very  natural  and  reason- 
able thing  that  a  seventh  portion  of  our  time  should  be 
snatched  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Caesar,  and  consecrated  to 
those  thoughts,  studies,  and  anticipations  which  relate  to  the 
growth  of  the  soul  in  meetness  for  heaven,  and  to  the  glory 
of  Him  who  has  created  us  by  his  power,  and  ransomed  and 
redeemed  us  by  his  precious  blood.  And  let  me  tell  you, 
that  suppose  you  should  get  an  Act  of  Parliament  cancelling 
the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a  Sabbath,  and  authorizing  the 
British  Museum  to  be  accessible,  the  Crystal  Palace  to  be 
opened,  the  playhouses  to  be  busy,  (for  what  right  has  one 
company  to  open  its  shop  and  another  not  to  open  theirs  ?) 
and  all  the  exhibitions  to  be  opened,  the  greatest  sufferer 
will  be  the  working  man  ;  because  when  the  avaricious  mas- 
ter sees  that  you  give  up  the  Sabbath  as  a  divine  institution, 
he  will  say,  "  You  prefer  to  have  it  for  play,  but  I  prefer  to 
have  it  for  work ;  and,  therefore,  as  it  has  no  divine  founda- 
tion, as  your  conduct  evinces,  I  insist  upon  your  working 
seven  days  for  the  same  wages  for  which  you  now  work  six." 
In  demanding,  as  many  working  men  have  done,  the  Sab- 


3IATTHEW   XXVIII.  391 

bath  for  amusement,  they  are  cutting  the  ground  from  be- 
neath their  own  feet,  and  putting  a  rod  in  the  avaricious 
master's  hand,  wherewith  he  will  be  sure  to  scourge  them. 
I  hope  such  a  concession  will  not  be  made,  not  for  my  own 
sake,  nor  for  the  sake  of  Christians,  but  for  the  working- 
man's  sake.  I  am  satisfied  that  if  you  lift  the  Sabbath  from 
being  a  divine  institution,  and  have  it  regarded  as  a  mere 
holiday,  and  not  a  holy  day,  the  result  will  be,  that  it  will  be 
either  lost  in  dissipation,  or  absorbed  in  the  working  days  of 
the  week ;  and  then,  every  political  economist  knows  well 
that  the  wages  given  to  the  working  man  are  very  much 
determined  by  the  number  of  working  men  in  the  market ; 
but  if  you  add  a  seventh  day  to  the  number  of  days  in  which 
the  working  man  must  serve  his  master,  it  is  equivalent  to 
adding  a  seventh*  man  to  every  six ;  therefore,  there  will  be 
abundance  of  hands,  and  wages  will  become  necessarily 
small ;  and  thus  the  result  will  be  that  you  will  have  more 
work  and  less  wages;  and  then  the  fanatics  of  1853  will  be 
pronounced  by  you  to  be  the  prophets  you  knew  not,  when 
it  is  impossible  to  retrace  your  steps,  or  to  avert  the  catas- 
trophe that  you  have  ignorantly  brought  upon  your  own 
heads. 

In  the  2d  verse  it  is  said,  "  There  was  a  great  earthquake." 
The  proper  translation  is,  "  There  had  been  a  great  earth- 
quake "  previous  to  the  visit  of  the  women;  "for  the  angel 
of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and  rolled 
back  the  stone  from  the  door,  and  sat  upon  it."  And  then 
there  is  a  very  beautiful  picture  of  the  angel.  "  His  coun- 
tenance was  like  lightning,"  that  is,  of  an  unearthly  and 
intolerable  splendor,  "  and  his  raiment  white  as  snow." 
Angels  are  spirits  ;  but  here  in  some  way  a  spirit  was  made 
visible  to  the  natural  or  earthly  eye,  with  a  countenance  like 
lightning,  and  raiment  as  white  as  snow.  And  the  keepers 
appointed  to  the  tomb  "  did  shake,"  and  became  paralyzed 
"  as  dead  men."      But  "  the  angel  answered  and  said  unto 


392  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

the  women,  Fear  not  ye."  Whosoever  fears,  you  have  no 
reason  to  do  so  —  and  on  what  ground  ?  "  For  I  know  that 
ye  seek  Jesus."  No  sinner  who  seeks  the  Saviour  need  fear. 
To  seek  Christ  is  salvation.  An  inquirer  is  ah-eady  a  Chris- 
tian. The  first  impulse  that  leads  you  to  ask  the  way  to 
heaven,  is  a  pledge  and  a  guarantee  of  the  perfect  possession 
of  a  Christian  heart  and  character.  "  But,"  said  the  angel, 
"  do  not  tarry,  but  go  quickly,  —  do  not  take  the  good  news 
as  a  monopoly,  but  go  and  tell  his  disciples.  Spread  the 
good  news  that  he  has  risen  from  the  dead."  "  And  they  de- 
parted quickly  from  the  sepulchre  with  fear  and  great  joy." 
What  a  strange  mixture !  A  deep  and  solemn  sense  of  the 
awful  fact,  and  yet  a  joyous  impression  that  he  who  was 
crucified  on  Calvary  had  now  risen  from  tlie  dead. 

"  And  as  they  went  to  tell  his  disciples,  behold,  Jesus  met 
them,  saying.  All  hail !  And  they  came  and  held  him  by 
the  feet,  and  worshipped  him."  Then  Jesus  repeated  what 
the  angel  said,  "  Go,  tell  my  brethren  that  they  go  into 
Galilee,  and  there  shall  they  see  me." 

Then  we  read  the  conduct  of  the  watch  upon  this  occasion. 
"  When  they  were  going,  behold,  some  of  the  watch  came 
into  the  city,  and  showed  unto  the  chief  priests  all  the 
things  that  were  done."  After  this,  we  find  that  the  elders 
took  counsel,  gave  large  money  to  the  soldiers,  and  bribed 
them  to  say,  "  His  disciples  came  by  night,  and  stole  him 
away  while  we  slept."  Now  I  have  not  the  least  doubt,  that 
unless  the  jury  who  listened  to  this  statement  had  made  up 
their  minds  beforehand  that  it  must  be  true,  it  never  could 
have  carried  conviction  to  their  minds.  For,  first,  recollect, 
it  was  a  great  festival  of  the  Jews,  it  was  bright  moonlight ; 
secondly,  recollect  that  at  that  great  festival  the  houses  of 
Jerusalem  were  unable  to  contain  all  the  visitors  who  came 
from  a  distance  to  be  present,  and  that  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands were  bivouacked  upon  the  streets,  living  in  tents,  or 
wandering  about  all  night  unable  to  find  a  lodging.     In  the 


MATTHEW    XXVIII.  393 

next  place,  recollect  that  a  watch  of  Roman  soldiers  was  the 
most  exclusive  guarantee  that  no  one  should  prevail  to  inter- 
fere successfully  with  their  charge,  except  at  the  sacrifice  of 
their  own  lives.  A  Roman  soldier  was  punished  with  death 
if  he  slept  on  his  watch.  He  would  have  been  punished 
with  death  if  he  had  allowed  any  one  to  interfere  with  his 
charge,  whom  he  could  prevent.  And  therefore,  you  ob- 
serve, for  the  soldiers  to  come  and  say  that  to  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  and  thus  to  impute  to  themselves  the  highest 
crime  of  which  a  soldier  could  be  guilty,  was  absurd  in 
itself,  and  not  fitted  to  make  an  impression  in  favor  of  what 
they  asserted  upon  any  dispassionate  and  unprejudiced  mind. 
For,  first,  how  could  the  eleven  fishermen  of  Galilee  roll 
away  a  gigantic  stone  from  a  sepulchre  in  bright  moonlight,  in 
the  midst  of  a  watch  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  Roman  soldiers, 
and  then  take  out  the  dead  body,  and  exhibit  so  little  haste, 
that  the  napkin  was  rolled  up,  and  laid  neatly  aside  in  the  sep- 
ulchre ;  and  then  carry  that  dead  body  along  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem  lined  with  thousands  who  could  not  get  accommo- 
dation in  the  city  ;  and  so  secrete  that  dead  body,  that  the 
most  vigilant  inspection  of  all  the  soldiers  and  police  of  Jeru- 
salem should  fail  to  detect  it  ?  1  say,  is  this  probable  ?  And 
again,  how  could  it  have  happened,  that  all  the  soldiers  slept 
precisely  at  the  same  moment,  and  that  the  disciples  opened 
the  sepulchre  without  disturbing  the  slumbers  of  a  single 
soldier,  and  that  they  carried  away  the  body,  and  left  not  the 
least  trace  of  haste  or  precipitation  behind  them  ?  I  say  the 
story  carries  its  own  refutation  ;  and  he  must  be  very  credu- 
lous who,  after  reading  the  narrative,  can  come  to  any  other 
conclusion  than  this,  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead  in  the 
majesty  of  Godhead,  and  ascended  to  our  Father  and  his 
Father,  and  there  lives  a  Prince  and  an  Intercessor,  to  give 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins. 

Jesus  then  appeared,  we  are  told,  to  the  eleven  disciples, 
and  gave  them  the  commission  —  "All  power,  jurisdiction, 


394  SCRIPTURE   READINGS. 

authority,  is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  On  the 
basis  of  this,  go  and  teach  all  nations ;  1  have  risen  from  the 
dead,  not  to  enjoy  the  inactivity  of  celestial  bliss,  but  prac- 
tically and  personally  to  be  with  you,  even  to  the  end  of  this 
present  age." 


CHAPTER    XXVIII.  19,20. 

THE    master's   presence. 

The  promise  is  not  the  first  thing,  and  then  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  the  consequence ;  but  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  is  first,  and  then  "  I  am  with  you  " 
is  the  consequence  of  that.  A  certain  class  of  divines  quote 
the  promise,  "  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world  ;  "  and  then  they  draw  the  inference,  "  Therefore 
we  must  always  necessarily  speak  truth,  and  are  infallible." 
Now  it  is  just  the  reverse.  It  is,  "  If  you  teach  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you,  then 
I  will  be  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world ; 
but  if  you  do  not  teach  what  I  have  commanded,  then  you 
forfeit  your  right  to  the  promise,  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Now  it  is  for  want  of  noticing  the  connection  of  clauses 
that  errors  are  made.  For  instance,  there  is  here  plainly 
taught  baptism  first,  teaching  after  it ;  then  there  is  plainly 
taught  us  here  teaching  first,  and  Christ's  promise  contingent 
upon  it. 

But  what  is  meant  by  the  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  ?  " 
I  have  already  remarked  that  it  was  not  an  essential  pres- 
ence, because  Christ  is  everywhere  ;  that  it  was  not  a  bodily 
presence,  because  the  heavens  must  contain  him  till  the 
times  of  the  restitution  of  all  things  ;  that  it  was  therefore  a 
special,  gracious  presence,  peculiar  to  the  people  of  God, 
and  inseparably  connected  with   his  Mediatorial  work  at 


396  SCRIPTUllE   READINGS. 

God's  righthand.  Now  this  special  presence,  contingent 
upon  our  teaching  all  things  that  he  commanded,  is  not 
simply  with  God's  ministers,  but  with  all  God's  people  in  all 
places  whatever.  It  is  not  simply  within  the  four  walls  of  a 
building  consecrated  to  his  service,  but  it  is  promised  and 
pledged  wheresoever  two  or  three  meet  together  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  When  Jesus  assumed  humanity, 
arrayed  himself  in  the  dust  of  our  globe,  he  took  a  first- 
fruits  of  it,  and  consecrated  the  whole.  Every  place,  there- 
fore, is  suitable  for  spiritual  worship;  and  wheresoever, 
therefore  —  in  church,  in  chapel,  on  the  sea-shore,  on  the 
hill-side,  on  the  deck  —  believers  pray  in  the  name  of  the 
believers'  Lord,  there  He  has  promised  to  be  with  them,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world,  only  it  must  be  somewhere.  In 
discrowning  Zion  we  must  not  despise  ordinances. 

It  is  implied  also  that  he  will  be  with  them  at  all  times  — 
by  night,  by  day,  in  sunshine  and  under  cloud,  when  their 
success  seems  very  little,  and  when  it  is  of  the  most  en- 
couraging description.  Paul  and  Stephen  realized  the  ful- 
filment of  the  promise  when  they  stood  before  the  judges  of 
the  earth,  accused  of  crime,  weak  in  themselves,  but  strong 
in  the  strength,  and  glorified  by  the  presence,  of  their 
Blessed  Lord  and  Master  Christ  Jesus. 

While  this  promise  is  specially  made  to  the  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  it  is,  "  Go  and  teach  them  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you "  —  the 
"  you  "  made  up  of  the  previous  "  them  "  and  "  you,"  that  is, 
the  teacher  and  the  taught  —  not  the  ministry  only,  but  the 
people  —  "  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  If  the 
preacher  needs  the  special  presence  of  Christ,  that  he  may 
preach  successfully,  the  hearer  needs  it  as  much,  that  he 
may  hear  successfully.  There  is  as  much  need  of  a  Divine 
power  and  presence  in  the  pew  as  in  the  pulpit ;  and  if 
Christ's  presence  were  given  to  the  pulpit,  and  withheld 
from  the   pew,  there  would   be  no  blessing;  but  he  has 


MATTHEW   XXVIII.  397 

promised  to  be  with  pulpit  and  pew,  with  preacher  and 
hearer,  with  teacher  and  taught,  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world. 

Now  for  what  purpose  is  Christ  with  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  who  are  half  of  those  with  whom  he  has  promised 
to  be  present?  For  what  object  is  his  presence  required? 
I  answer,  his  presence  is  with  the  ministry  to  fix  it  in  its 
proper  place.  A  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  not  simply 
made  so  as  a  Christian  is  made  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
twice  consecrated,  but  he  needs  also  to  have  his  sphere  ap- 
pointed by  Him  who  made  him.  Ministers  are  likened  in 
the  Apocalypse  to  stars  in  Christ's  righthand.  They  are 
stars  to  shine,  not  in  their  own  light,  but  in  the  light  of  that 
Sun  from  whom  it  is  borrowed.  And  they^  are  in  Christ's 
righthand  to  be  placed  in  their  orbits,  where  he  pleases  to 
provide  them,  and  to  be  removed  from  them  as  soon  as  he 
has  no  further  necessity  for  them.  And  therefore,  Christ  is 
with  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  assign  each  his  sphere, 
his  parish,  his  diocese,  call  it  what  you  please  —  in  which 
he  is  to  serve  him. 

He  is  with  them  also  to  support  and  encourage  them. 
Moses  shrunk  from  his  embassy;  Paul  asked  in  amaze- 
ment, "  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ? "  and  both  ex- 
pressions implied  that  Moses  and  Paul,  who  were  competent 
to  judge  of  the  difficulties  and  perils  of  the  ministry  that 
was  committed  to  them,  felt  it  an  onerous,  responsible,  and 
laborious  work.  But  in  order  to  encourage  ministers  in 
prosecuting  their  inission,  Christ  says,  "  I  will  be  with  you ; 
my  grace  is  sufficient  for  you  ;  my  strength  is  made  perfect 
in  weakness."  And  if  this  be  true  as  applied  to  the  minis- 
try, it  is  no  less  applicable  to  the  audience,  or  the  hearers. 
You  need  his  presence  as  truly  as  the  minister  needs  it. 
You  have  responsibility,  duty,  privilege;  and  these  unsanc- 
tified,  must  prove  curses ;  for  only  wiien  privilege  is  sancti- 
fied, does  it  become  happiness,  joy,  and  progress      Christ, 

3J: 


398  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

therefore,  has  promised  to  be  with  minister  and  people,  to 
render  effective  and  successful  whatsoever  is  said  that  he 
himself  has  commanded.  The  most  able  preacher  can  only 
speak  to  the  outward  ear ;  he  cannot  reach  the  heart,  he 
cannot  touch  its  springs,  he  cannot  influence  its  nature ;  he 
can  only  speak  to  the  outward  ear  what  ought  to  convince, 
and  what,  if  properly  received,  must  impress.  But  w^e  see, 
as  a  matter-of-fact,  that  all  who  hear  are  not  converted ; 
that  all  who  are  addressed  are  not  sanctified ;  that  there  is 
a  special  presence  that  we  need,  and  for  which  we  pray, 
that  makes  the  words  addressed  to  the  outward  ear  to  strike 
on  the  inward  heart,  and  to  awaken  therein  com'ictions  that 
shall  not  perish  till  they  ripen  into  thorough  and  lasting 
conversion.  Christ's  presence,  therefore,  is  promised  to  be 
with  his  ministering  servants,  and  with  his  people  to  the 
end  of,  the  world,  to  impress  upon  the  heart  what  is  ad- 
dressed to  the  outward  ear*  provided  it  be  what  he  himself 
has  commanded. 

In  the  next  place,  Christ  has  promised  to  be  with  his 
ministers  and  people  to  the  end  of  the  world,  in  order  to 
constitute  by  his  presence  a  true  Church,  of  which  the 
presence  of  Christ  is  the  essential  element.  There  may  be 
all  that  is  impressive,  splendid,  magnificent,  costly  ;  ^nd  yet 
it  may  not  be  a  church  of  Christ.  There  may  be  in  the 
pews  the  great,  the  wealthy,  and  the  celebrated,  and  yet 
there  is  not  a  Church.  The  minister  may  collect  an  audi- 
ence, but  the  minister's  Lord  alone  can  make  that  audience 
a  Church.  An  architect  can  build  a  meeting-house,  but  the 
Lord  Jesus  alone  can  make  that  meeting-house  a  sanctuary, 
a  church,  a  true  temple  for  his  service,  and  for  his  worship. 
And  wherever  Christ  is,  there  is  the  Ploly  of  Holies,  there 
is  the  chancel.  It  is  therefore  absolutely  unscriptural  to 
allege,  as  do  some,  that  there  is  one  place  in  every  church, 
the  chancel,  where  what  is  called  most  unscripturally  the 
altar,  or  what  is  called  commonly  the  communion  table  is, 


MATTHEW    XXVI IT.  390 

that  is  more  holy  than  the  rest.  That  is  absokite  nonsense; 
.there  is  no  such  distinction  recognized  in  the  house  of  God. 
Whatever  hohness  is  in  the  sanctuary  is  from  Christ's  pres- 
ence, who  is  the  AUar,  the  High-Priest,  and  the  Sacrifice, 
in  the  midst  of  the  people ;  and  there  is  no  one  place  that 
has  any  holiness  or  any  consecration  that  does  not  come 
from  that  presence,  and  that  is  not  dependent  on  that  pres- 
ence. And  therefore,  to  allege  that  Christ  is  more  present 
at  the  east  end  of  a  church  than  in  the  west,  more  present 
on  the  communion  table  than  in*the  pews,  is  to  assert  what 
is  not  matter  of  proof,  what  is  scripturally  unwarranted. 
The  sacredness  of  the  place  is  derived  from  the  presence 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  yo-u,  if  Christians  at  all,  are  priests ; 
for  you  are  "  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy 
nation,  a  peculiar  people."  The  most  sacred  place,  there- 
fore, is  simply  the  sanctuary ;  and  the  difference  between  us 
and  those  who  assert  the  extravagant  notion  to  which  I 
have  alluded,  is  this,  —  they  say  that  the  chancel,  the  place 
where  the  communion  table  is,  is  more  holy  than  the  rest 
of  the  sanctuary ;  therefore,  they  have  a  profane  place  and 
a  holy  place ;  but  we  have  no  profane  place  at  all ;  we  are 
all  chancel,  we  are  all  holy  place ;  because  where  two  or 
three  meet  in  Christ's  name,  there  he  is  present  in  the 
midst  of  them. 

In  the  next  place,  Christ  is  present  with  us  to  constitute 
us  a  church,  and  to  show  by  that  presence,  therefore,  that 
Christianity  is  not  merely  an  individual  thing,  but  that  it  is 
also  a  social  thing.  Quite  true,  our  religion  is  first  personal, 
but  it  is  not  always  so.  It  is  first  personal,  next  social. 
The  first  tie  knits  us  to  our  Lord,  but  the  next,  and  the 
necessarily  next,  knits  each  to  hi-s  brother.  And  therefore, 
he  says,  "  Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you  ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  "  —  in  the 
plural  number  —  "  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world." 
Where  an  individual  prays,  there  is  a  prayer  hearing  God; 


400  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

but  where  two  or  three  meet  in  Christ's  name  to  pray,  there 
is  promised  the  special  presence  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
In  fact,  the  Church  below  is  like  the  Church  above ;  it  is  not 
a  hermitage  for  a  solitary  to  live  in,  but  it  is  a  house  for 
children  to  meet  together  in.  "  In  my  Father's  house  are 
many  mansions.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you."  By  all 
means  let  there  be  individual  Christianity,  but  do  not  stop 
there :  extend  it,  until  a  Fatherhood  in  heaven  inculcates 
upon  you  the  beautiful  and  blessed  truth  of  a  brotherhood 
in  the  Church  on  earth. 

How  truly  has  this  promise  of  Christ's  been  fulfilled! 
"What  changes  have  taken  place  since  Christ  uttered  these 
words ;  and  yet  these  words  seem  as  fully  realized  and 
felt  at  the  present  moment,  as  ever  they  were  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church.  Systems  of  philosophy  have  with- 
ered ;  theories,  schemes,  and  notions  have  been  scattered 
before  the  winds  ;  great  nations  have  passed  away,  and 
left  scarcely  a  memorial  behind ;  great  cities  have  per- 
ished, and  the  wild  beast,  the  owl,  and  the  serpent  are 
amid  their  ruins ;  seas  and  rivers  have  changed  their 
channels  and  their  shores ;  all  things  have  altered ;  but 
this  promise  has  not  changed ;  the  truth  embodied  in  it  is 
believed,  felt,  and  realized  at  the  present  moment  just  as 
fully,  and  more  so,  than  it  ever  was  realized  in  the  annals  of 
the  Christian  Church.  We  see,  therefore,  a  promise  made 
to  a  few  fishermen  by  Jesus,  the  Man  of  sorrows,  without 
strength,  without  patronage,  without  eloquence,  without  wis- 
dom ;  and  all  things  have  changed  or  perished,  but  that 
promise  rings  as  clear  in  Christendom  as  ever  it  did  since  it 
was  uttered ;  and  the  truth  and  reality  of  it  is  felt  as  pro- 
foundly and  as  widely  as  it  ever  was  felt ;  nay,  more  widely 
and  more  profoundly  than  ever  it  was  felt  before.  What  a 
testimony,  therefore,  to  the  inspiration  of  Jesus,  to  the  great- 
ness of  his  mission,  to  the  glory  of  his  person,  to  the  reality 
and  truth  of  his  Gospel !     If  you  take  the  history  of  the 


MATTHEW    XXVIII.  401 

Church,  by  which  I  mean  the  company  of  the  people  of 
God,  from  the  very  time  that  he  first  uttered  this  promise, 
you  will  see  how  it  has  been  reahzed.  The  whole  history 
of  the  Church  is  a  comment  upon  this  single  promise,  "  Lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
There  is  not  a  martyr's  shroud,  nor  a  missionary's  grave, 
that  does  not  bear  testimony  from  the  tenant  of  the  one,  and 
the  wearer  of  the  other,  that  Christ  was  with  them  when 
their  need  was  sorest.  The  very  existence  of  a  Church  is 
proof  that  this  promise  has  been  made  actual  in  its  history. 
All  forces  conspired  to  put  it  down.  Fraud,  philosophy, 
persecution,  patronage,  power,  all  attempted  to  put  down 
that  weak  thing,  that  unpatronized  thing,  the  Church  of 
Christ ;  but  the  flames  that  consumed  the  martyrs  only  re- 
vealed the  splendor  of  the  principles  for  which  they  suffered  ; 
and  the  axe  that  was  lifted  up  against  the  branches  of  that 
vine  that  came  out  of  Israel,  lies  now  in  splinters  at  the 
root  of  that  glorious  and  indestructible  tree.  The  whole 
history  of  Christ's  Church  throughout  all  its  chapters,  and 
in  all  its  phases,  bears  striking  testimony  of  the  fulfilment 
of  Christ's  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world."  The  bush,  like  that  of  Horeb,  has 
been  wrapped  in  the  flame,  but  the  flame  has  only  made  it 
beautiful ;  it  has  not  consumed  a  single  twig  of  it.  The 
Ark  of  the  Lord  has  been  tossed,  like  Noah's,  upon  the 
waves,  and  exposed  to  destruction  a  thousand  times  ;  but  the* 
waves  that  rose  highest  only  carried  it  nearest  to  heaven, 
not  one  was  permitted  to  enter,  still  less  to  overwhelm  it. 
This  Church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  remains  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  increasing  in  numbers,  and,  we  believe,  with  all  the 
drawbacks  that  have  attended  it,  in  purity,  faithfulness,  and 
force ;  and  we  are  just  as  certain  that  during  the  years  to 
come  Christ  will  be  with  it,  as  we  are  that  during  the  eigh- 
teen centuries  that  are  past  he  has  engraven  H  upon  the 
34* 


402  SCRTPTTJIIE    READINGS. 

palms  of  his  hands,  kept  it  in   everlasting   remembrance, 
never  at  any  time  forsaken  it,  never  anywliere  forgotten  it. 

Now,  believing  in  this  promise,  let  us  see  what  is  the  true 
strength  and  safety  of  Christ's  Church.  It  is  not  eloquence, 
learning,  patronage,  power,  establishment  by  the  state  or 
otherwise,  or  endowments.  These  things  may  be  of  use, 
and  they  may  be  of  disservice ;  but  whether  good  or  bad, 
whether  lawful  or  unlawful,  it  is  needless  now  to  discuss ; 
this  is  quite  certain,  that  the  strength,  safety,  and  progress 
of  the  Church  is  not  contingent  upon  any  one  of  these  things. 
There  is  only  one  thing  that  is  essential,  Christ's  presence. 
Then,  should  we  not  look  more  to  that?  Should  we  not 
think  less  about  the  mischief  that  statesmen  may  do,  or  the 
good  that  they  may  attempt,  and  think  far  more  about  this, 
—  If  Christ  be  for  us,  what  does  it  matter  who  is  against 
us  ?  If  Christ  be  present  in  the  ship,  no  wind  nor  wave 
shall  overwhelm  it ;  and  if  Christ  be  not  in  the  Church,  then 
the  sooner  those  who  are  far  from  him  are  brought  near  to 
him  the  better.  And  if  there  be  a  section  of  the  Church  in 
the  present  day  where  Christ  is  not,  it  does  not  deserve  sup- 
port, and  the  less  support  it  gets  the  better.  And  if  there 
be  a  portion  of  the  Church  where  we  know  Christ  is,  then 
let  it  not  lean  upon  an  arm  of  ilesh  or  upon  any  earthly 
thing  whatever,  but  feel  that  its  anchors  are  within  the  veil, 
that  its  strength  is  the  Rock  of  ages,  that  its  safety  is  the 
presence  of  its  Lord ;  and  feeling  this,  let  us  pray  that  his 
presence  may  be  ever  with  us  :  for  if  he  go  with  us,  we 
know  that  nothing  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love 
of  God  that  is  in  him. 

Christ  must  be  God.  I  cannot  read  the  New  Testament 
without  discovering  that.  Take  away  that  one  truth  from 
Christianity,  and  you  alter  the  whole  complexion  and  char- 
acter of  it.     It  is  then  not  what  I  want. 

If  Christ  be  not  God,  Calvary  is  simply  a  complement 


MATTHEW    XXVIII.  403 

to  Mount  Sinai ;  the  5th  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  which  is 
so  beautiful,  is  simply  a  clearer  exposition  of  the  20th  chap- 
ter of  Exodus.  But  if  I  cannot  obey  the  20th  chapter  of 
Exodus,  how  shall  I  obey  the  5th  chapter  of  St.  Matthew  ? 
If  I  cannot  obey  the  outer  Law,  how  shall  I  obey  that  Law 
when  it  touches  the  inmost  thoughts  of  the  heart  ?  If  this 
religion  be  only  a  directory,  and  not  a  remedy,  it  is  a  reason 
for  despair,  and  no  reason  for  hope  at  all.  But  Christ  is 
God,  and  being  God,  in  our  nature,  he  made  an  atonement ; 
and  the  Gospel,  the  record  of  that  atonement,  is  therefore  a 
pharmacoposia,  or  collection  of  prescriptions,  for  a  soul  dis- 
eased, by  which  I  am  reinstated  in  my  lost  prerogatives, 
and  made  higher,  and  happier,  and  holier,  than  Adam  ever 
was.  But,  you  say,  how  do  you  know  that  Christ  is  God  ? 
I  need  only  the  promise  of  my  text  to  prove  it :  for  he  who 
uttered  the  clause  on  which  I  am  commenting  either  was  a 
fanatic,  or  God.  "  I  am  with  you  alway,"  he  says,  "  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  Christian  dispensation."  That  dispen- 
sation lasts,  and  is  destined  to  overflow  the  whole  earth. 
Either  that  speech  was  fanaticism  or  imposture,  or  a  truth 
spoken  by  the  God  of  truth ;  for  how  can  Christ  be  present 
everywhere,  at  all  times,  by  night  and  by  day,  east,  west, 
north,  south,  wheresoever  two  or  three  meet  in  his  name,  in 
one  and  the  same  moment,  unless  he  is,  what  we  know  he 
is.  omnipresent?  We  know  in  whom  we  have  believed, 
and  we  are  certain  that  wheresoever  two  or  three  meet  in 
his  name,  be  they  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  groups, 
next  Sunday,  east,  west,  north,  south,  in  the  old  world,  and 
in  the  new  world,  Christ  is  present  in  the  midst  of  every 
group.  But  who  can  this  be  but  God  ?  And  we  rejoice  to 
know  that  he  is  so,  and  that  he  is  able,  as  well  as  willing  to 
fulfil  the  promise  he  has  made,  and  which  we  pray  that  we 
may  feel  in  all  its  preciousness  and  sweetness,  "  Lo^  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 


CHAPTER    XXVIII.  20. 

THE   minister's   DUTY. 

First  of  all,  there  is  announced  by  our  Lord  his  investi- 
ture with  all  the  prerogatives  of  infinite  power  in  heaven 
and  in  earth.  This  investiture  is*frequently  alluded  to  in 
the  New  Testament.  We  read  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  i.  20-23 :  "  Which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he 
raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand 
in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  principality,  and 
power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every  name  that  is 
named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also  in  that  which  is  to 
come :  and  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him 
to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his 
body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  The  same 
great  prerogative  is  announced  by  the  same  apostle  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  ii.  9-11,  where  he  says,  "God 
hath  highly  exalted  him,  and  given  him  a  name  which  is 
above  every  name :  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and 
things  under  the  earth ;  and  that  every  tongue  should  con- 
fess that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father." 

Now  it  seems  here  to  be  distinctly  asserted  that  a  portion 
of  our  humanity  is  elevated  to  a  height  of  dignity  and  glory 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  delineate ;  and  that 
because  that  first  portion,  that  earnest,  that  first-fruits  of 


MATTHEW   XXVIII.  405 

our  humanity  is  there,  therefore  the  apostles  were  to  go  and 
proclaim  the  glorious  tidings  to  all  the  children  of  men,  par- 
takers of  the  same  flesh  and  blood,  that  none  might  despair, 
but  that  all  who  heard  the  message  might  hope  for  an  in- 
heritance incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away.  Jesus  bases  the  commission  to  preach  upon  the  fact 
that  he  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  What  an  interesting 
thought,  that  one  like  you  and  me  has  entered  into  glory ! 
Then  the  way  is  open.  One  having  passed  through  it,  and 
suc(53ssfully  attained  the  end,  were  there  no  other  ground,  is 
to  me  an  encouragement  to  pursue  the  same  bright  and 
blessed  course,  and  to  hope  for  the  same  glorious  and  happy 
success.  "  I  am  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  all  power  is 
given  unto  your  Elder  Brother  in  heaven  and  in  earth. 
Tell  the  rest  of  my  brethren,  that  a  Brother  is  at  God's 
right  hand;  tell  sorrow  stricken  humanity  that  a  Man  is 
before  the  Throne ;  tell  them  that  none  need  despair,  that 
few  need  despond  ;  that  there  is  a  welcome,  as  there  is  a 
way.  I  am  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  have  all  power 
in  heaven  and  in  earth."  And  if  Joseph  at  the  right  hand 
of  Pharaoh  was  encouragement  to  his  father  and  his  breth- 
ren to  come  and  share  in  his  dignity  and  his  privileges, 
Jesus-,  better  than  Joseph,  at  the  right  hand  of  God  is  an 
earnest  and  a  pledge  to  us  that  we  too  may  share  in  his 
blessings  and  inherit  his  joy. 

Well,  upon  the  footing  of  this  he  says,  "  Go  teach  all 
nations."  Now  I  sometimes  find  fault  with  our  translation ; 
I  always  lament  to  do  so ;  but  as  a  fair  and  impartial  inter- 
preter of  Scripture,  one  must  recollect  that  the  original  is 
the  inspired  Book,  that  the  translation  is  an  approximation 
to  it.  I  think  translators  are  justified  by  the  practice  of 
our  Lord  and  the  apostles  ;  because  they  quote  much  oftener 
from  the  Greek  Septuagint,  than  from  the  original  Hebrew. 
Some  excessively  fastidious  critics  have  complained  of  that, 
and  said,."  What  a  pity  it  is  that  the  apostles  did  not  quote 


406  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

verbatim  from  the  original  Hebrew  ! "  I  say,  it  would  have 
been  a  pity  if  they  had  invariably  done  so :  for  what  is  the 
lesson  taught  by  the  fact  that  they  quote  from  the  Septua- 
gint  ?  Surely  this  blessed  one,  that  God  meant  the  Bible 
to  be  translated  into  every  tongue,  and  to  give  us  a  sanction 
for  translations  of  the  Scripture  by  apostolic  usage  in  quot- 
ing from  a  translation,  and  not  from  the  original.  But  in 
the  original  Greek  of  my  text  it  is,  "  Go  ye  therefore,"  (and 
I  find  it  is  so  in  the  margin)  "  and  make  disciples,  or  Chris- 
tians, of  all  nations."  It  is  literally  translated,  "  Go  ye 
therefore,  and  discipleize,"  if  you  will  allow  that  expres- 
sion, "  all  nations,"  or,  "  Christianize  all  nations  ; "  or,  if  I 
were  to  use  a  university  term,  it  would  be,  "  matriculate  all 
nations  "  —  receive  into  your  school  all  nations  as  scholars  — 
admit  them  to  the  first  form,  that  they  may  rise  and  reach 
the  last,  the  noblest,  and  the  highest.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  first  clause  of  this  commission  about  teaching,  but  sim- 
ply a  charge  to  go  and  discipleize  all  nations  —  enter  their 
names,  enroll  them,  admit  them  into  your  school,  bring  them 
under  your  tuition.  It  is,  in  the  first  instance,  give  them 
admission. 

Now  it  is  not  fair  for  some  to  quote  this  text,  and  say, 
first  teach,  and  then  baptize.  I  am  not  quarrelling  with 
that  process  where  it  is  proper ;  I  am  only  quarrelling  with 
ingrafting  that  process  upon  a  text  that  does  not  sustain  it. 
The  language  of  my  text  is.  First,  discipleize ;  and  if  you 
will  read  on,  you  will  find  it  is,  next,  baptize  them,  and  next, 
teach  them  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you. 
The  meaning  of  this  text  is,  "  Go  and  discipleize  all  nations  " 
(I  am  not  rash  when  I  so  translate  it)  —  "  by  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  then  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  what- 
soever I  have  commanded  you." 

Secondly,  I  would  refer  to  the  process  of  disci pleization, 
if  I  may  use  the  word.     What  was  the  process  to  be  em- 


'       MATTHEW    XXVIII.  407 

ployed  by  the  apostles  in  making  disciples  of  all  nations? 
The  answer  is  given  in  the  text.  Go  and  discipleize  all 
nations,  that  is,  make  them  outward  disciples  and  scholars 
upon  the  first  form,  by  baptizing  them,  —  through  that  pro- 
cess introducing  them  into  the  school  of  Christ  as  learners 
of  the  lesson  of  Christianity.  Now,  what  is  meant  by  the 
word  "  baptism  ?  "  I  think  I  explained  before  that  this  word 
is  used  in  four  senses  in  the  Bible :  —  first,  in  the  sense  of 
suffering.  — "  With  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  withal 
shall  ye  be  baptized  "  (Mark  x.  39)  ;  secondly,  in  the  sense 
of  miraculous  endowments,  —  "  baptized  with  the  Holy 
Ghost;"  thirdly,  in  the  sense  of  regeneration  of  heart, 
where  the  apostle  speaks  of  being  buried  with  Christ  in  bap- 
tism ;  and  fourthly,  in  the  sense  of  sprinkling,  or,  if  you 
prefer  it,  immersion  in  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  These  then  are  the 
four  senses  of  the  word  "  baptism."  And  I  think  I  men- 
tioned on  a  former  occasion,  that  when  persons  say  to  you, 
"  Baptism  is  regeneration,"  you  must  not  say,  "  It  is  not," 
for  that  would  be  wrong ;  but  you  must  ask,  "  In  what  sense 
do  you  employ  the  word  '  baptism  ?  '  Do  you  mean  bap- 
tism with  miraculous  power  ?  or,  do  you  mean  baptism  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  sense  of  renewal  of  heart  and  soul  ? 
or,  cte  you  mean  baptism  simply  with  outward  water,  as  a 
badge  of  the  Christian  character  ?  "  If  they  answer,  "  We 
mean  baptism  with  water,"  then,  of  course,  you  will  say, 
"  That  is  not  regeneration,  and  the  Qld  Bailey  and  Bridewell 
are  my  ready  proofs  ; "  but  if  they  say  that  they  mean  by 
baptism  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  heart,  then 
you  will  answer  as  distinctly  as  the  great  Bishop  in  the  West 
could  answer,  "  Baptism  is  regeneration ; "  because  this  is 
not  baptism  with  water  by  a  priestly  hand,  but  baptism  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,  by  the  hand  of  Jesus  Christ  the  High-Priest 
of  our  profession. 

Now  then,  you  will  notice  here,  that  baptism  is  assumed 


408  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

to  be,  not  the  inner  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  but 
plainly,  I  think,  from  the  context  and  from  the  peculiar 
usage  of  the  passage,  that  baptism  with  water  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is 
admission  into  the  outward  and  visible  Church  and  nothing 
more.  And  here  it  is  most  interesting  to  observe  the  large 
liberality  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  all  that  is  extrinsic, 
whilst  it  is  dutiful  to  notice  its  unswerving  and  uncompro- 
mising statement  of  all  that  is  essential  to  the  safety  of  the 
soul,  and  the  glory  of  God.  Outward  rites  the  Bible  has 
left  wide  as  a  latitudinarian  could  demand;  but  essential 
and  eternal  doctrines  it  has  hedged  round  with  uncompro- 
mising precautions.  It  is  not  stated  whether  you  ought  to 
be  immersed  in  water,  or  the  water  sprinkled  upon  you.  It 
simply  demands  that  you  shall  be  baptized  with  water  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  mode  of  administration  depends 
upon  the  latitude ;  the  duty  of  the  administration  depends 
upon  the  authority  of  God.  If  I  were  in  India,  I  should 
fancy  immersion  the  most  gratifying  mode  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  baptism. ;  but  if  1  were  in  Iceland,  I  should  fancy 
immersion  the  least  desirable  mode  that  could  be  adopted. 
It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  immersion  or  sprinkling  are 
matters  of  detail  to  be  arranged  according  to  the  latitude  in 
which  you  live  ;  but  that  baptism  with  water  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  a  duty 
that  devolves  upon  every  Christian  in  every  longitude  and 
latitude  throughout  the  world.  And  you  can  see  the  reason 
of  this.  The  Jew  was  admitted  into  his  outward  church  by 
an  outward  rite ;  the  Christian  is  to  be  admitted  into  his 
outward  Church  by  an  outward  and  visible  rite ;  the  differ- 
ence being,  that  all  nations  are  to  be  admitted  into  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  that  almost  exclusively  the  Jew  was  to  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  Jewish  or  Hebrew  temple.  The  emphasis  of 
our  Lord  in  this  commission  is,  "  Go,  and  discipleize,  not  the 


MATTHEW    XXVIII.  409 

Jew  by  an  outward  rite  to  which  he  is  accustomed,  but  all 
nations,  that  is,  all  mankind,  Jew  and  Gentile,  by  a  new, 
beautiful,  simple,  and  expressive  ceremony,  that  of  baptism 
with  water  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."  It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  to  get  up 
a  dispute  about  the  quantity  of  water  to  be  used  in  baptism 
is  a  side  fight  that  Satan  will  rejoice  in,  because  it  will  draw 
you  aside  from  the  more  vital  one,  whether  baptism  with  water, 
or  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  the  essential  requirement. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  quantity  of  water  to  be  used  in 
baptism  is  on  a  par  with  the  quantity  of  bread  to  be  eaten  at 
the  communion  table,  and  the  quantity  of  wine  to  be  sipped 
from  the  cup.  The  quantity  of  bread  and  wine  is  not  the 
substance  or  the  meaning  of  the  Communion.  True  bap- 
tism does  not  depend  upon  the  quantity  of  water  you  are 
immersed  in,  or  that  is  sprinkled  upon  you.  The  outward 
dedication  is  the  substance  of  it ;  the  mode,  except  as  far  as 
defined  by  Christ,  is  left  to  latitude,  to  convenience,  to  the 
taste,  fancy,  and  preference  of  all.  I  have  not  the  least 
doubt  that  in  the  primitive  Church  immersion  was  often 
used,  but  I  have  not  any  doubt  that  sprinkling  was  also  used. 
I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  Greek  verb  BaTrri^o),  or 
BuTTTO),  in  its  origin,  means  "  to  dip ; "  but  I  have  not  any 
doubt  that  it  means  as  often  "  to  sprinkle."  And  therefore, 
to  institute  an  acrimonious  discussion  as  to  whether  you 
should  be  dipped,  or  sprinkled,  seems  to  me  to  be  an  inex- 
pedient and  unhappy  dispute,  and  the  sooner  it  is  suppressed 
the  better.  I  say  to  the  Baptist,  "  If  you  prefer  to  be 
plunged  in  the  water,  by  all  means  go  and  be  so ;  "  but  then 
I  ask  the  Baptist  to  say  to  me,  "  If  you  desire  that  your 
disciples  should  be  sprinkled,  let  them  be  sprinkled."  It 
would  be  bigotry  and  exclusiveness,  were  I  to  say  that 
immersion  is  wrong,  or  if  our  Baptist  friends  were  to  say 
that  sprinkling  is  wrong.  Let  each,  in  a  matter  extrinsic  to 
the  main  thing,  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind. 
35 


410  SCKIPTUUE    READINGS. 

But  notice  now  what  is  very  vital  in  this.  Whilst  the 
form  or  the  mode  of  administration  may  be  left  to  the  taste 
or  discretion  of  the  Church  according  to  the  latitude  or  lon- 
gitude in  which  it  lives,  there  is  an  essential,  vital,  insepara- 
ble accompaniment  of  the  right  and  due  administration  of 
the  sacrament,  and  that  is,  it  must  be  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Now,  is 
it  straining  the  passage  I  have  read  to  assert  that  this  is, 
not  the  proof,  but  a  collateral  proof,  of  the  doctrine  of  a 
Triune  Jehovah  ?  Would  it  strike  a  fair,  impartial,  and  un- 
prejudiced reader  that  this  means,  "  Baptize  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  a  Divine  Person,  and  of  the  Son,  a  mere  human 
being,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a  mere  figure  of  speech  ? " 
Would  not  the  impression  of  every  reader  on  first  opening 
his  Bible,  and  reading  the  commission  of  his  Lord,  be  that 
if  the  Father  be  a  Person,  the  Son  is  a  Person ;  and  if  the 
Son  be  a  Person,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  Person ;  and  that  if 
the  first  be  God,  the  second  must  be  God,  and  the  third 
must  be  God  also  ?  The  ancient  Jews  were  baptized  into 
Moses,  that  is,  a  person.  Modern  Christians  are  baptized 
into  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  that  is,  a  Person.  And 
what  will  strike  you  more  forcibly  still  is,  that  it  is  not, 
"  Baptize  in  the  ?i«me5  "  —  it  is  not  in  the  plural  number, 
but  in  the  singular  number  —  eIc  to  ovofia  —  "  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Now, 
does  not  that  look  very  much  like  three  Persons  —  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  —  but  one  God  ? 

Now,  when  we  baptize,  as  we  do  in  this  church,  a  child, 
"we  do  not  give  it,  as  some  ill-informed  persons  sometimes 
say,  a  name.  A  parent  has  sometimes  said  to  me,  "  Will 
you  name  my  child  ?  "  whereupon  I  have  replied  gently  and 
courteously,  "  That  is  your  business,  not  mine :  my  privi- 
lege and  my  commission  is  to  baptize  your  child,"  or,  if  you 
like  the  expression,  though  it  is  not  a  scriptural  one,  "  to 
christen  your  child."     Then  what  is  the  use  of  having  the 


MATTHEAV   XXVIII.  411 

name  pronounced  ?  I  answer,  it  is  a  very  important  accom- 
paniment ;  and,  as  often  as  you  sign  your  name  to  any  doc- 
ument, deed,  or  bill,  if  ever  you  should  be  so  unfortunate  as 
to  sign  it  to  this  last,  you  should  recollect  that  that  name 
was  consecrated  by  communion  with  Christ,  that  it  was  first 
named  when  you  were  devoted  to  him ;  and  thus,  we  should 
regard  the  name,  and  the  man  who  wears  it,  not  as  a  profane, 
but  as  a  consecrated,  solemn,  and  Christian  thing. 

Notice,  in  the  next  place,  the  extent  of  this  commission : 
'"  Go  and  discipleize,"  it  is  said,  "  all  nations  "  —  navra  to,  e^rj 
—  "  all  the  Gentile  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Now, 
mark  the  limit  of  the  Christian  mission.  It  is  only  to  ter- 
minate with  the  unveiling  of  the  Crown  of  our  blessed 
Lord.  We  are  to  cease  to  teach,  or  to  cease  to  be  mission- 
aries, only  when  the  last  prodigal  has  been  reclaimed  to  his 
home,  when  the  last  stray  sheep  has  again  been  restored  to 
the  fold,  and  when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  have  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  of  his  Christ.  The  commis- 
sion of  our  blessed  Master  is  not  to  go  and  discipleize  the 
congregation,  the  neighborhood,  the  nation,  the  continent, 
but  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Go  where  the  cannibal 
feasts,  and  where  the  savage  adores  he  knows"  not  what.  Go 
where  the  soil  is  wet  with  the  tears  of  the  slave,  and  the 
soul  is  weary  with  its  oppression.  Go  where  the  wind 
wafts  the  sigh  of  the  weeper,  and  the  turf  i«  broken  for  the 
dead.  Go  where  no  Sabbath  shines,  and  no  Christian 
praises,  and  no  God  is  worshipped.  Go  to  the  Brahmin,  the 
Buddhist,  the  worshipper  of  Juggernaut,  the  widow  prepar- 
ing to  die  upon  the  funeral  pile  of  her  husband,  the  mother 
about  to  plunge  her  babe  into  the  Ganges.  Go  to  the  Ma- 
hometan in  his  mosque,  to  the  Mufti  on  his  carpet,  to  the 
Dervish  in  his  infuriated  dance  ;  and  tell  them  that  a  God 
has  suffered,  that  the  nations  might  be  redeemed.  Go  and 
tell  them  of  a  Cross  tliat  outshines  the  crescent,  and  of  a 


412  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

temple  that  is  more  magnificent  than  all  the  minarets  of 
Constantinople.  Go  to  the  Jew  the  wanderer,  to  the  Be- 
douin of  the  desert,  to  the  Ishmaelite  whose  hand  is  against 
every  man,  to  the  Cossack  in  his  steppes,  to  the  Arab  in 
the  desert.  Go  to  the  whole  world,  and  preach  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  What  a  mag- 
nificent commission !  What  a  splendid  diocese  !  What  a 
glorious  field  !     What  an  encouragement  to  all  to  go  ! 

And  this  commission  is  not  addressed  to  the  minister  only, 
but  to  the  people ;  and  is  obligatory  upon  you  as  much  as 
upon  bishop,  or  presbyter,  or  any  minister  whatever ;  and 
you  have  not  discharged  or  fulfilled  this  duty,  or  exhausted 
this  commission,  as  long  as  there  is  a  heathen  to  be  con- 
verted, or  a  sinner  throughout  the  world  to  be  saved.  You 
say  perhaps,  what  has  often  been  remarked.  Better  wait  till 
we  have  converted  all  at  home  before  we  attempt  abroad. 
But  it  is  a  singular  thing  that  the  people  who  give  for  the 
conversion  of  sinners  abroad  are  just  the  persons  who  give 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners  at  home ;  and  in  almost  every 
instance  I  have  found  that  the  objector  to  foreign  missions 
is  practically  the  recusant  to  giving  any  thing  to  home  mis- 
sions tit  all.  The  fact  is,  when  the  heart  has  been  touched 
with  Divine  grace,  and  the  whole  soul  has  been  opened  to 
the  Gospel,  there  is  a  readiness  to  give  to  all  the  claims  of 
Christianity  at  home,  and  to  all  the  demands  of  heathendom 
abroad;  and  a  deep  and  ineradicable  impression  that,  as 
over  the  cross  our  Lord's  title  was  written  in  Hebrew,  and 
Greek,  and  Latin,  so  his  Gospel  is  meant  to  be  preached  to 
every  nation  upon  earth ;  and  that  as  his  garments  were 
divided  into  four  parts,  so  his  message  is  meant  for  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe,  and  only  to  cease  in  its  circulation 
when  he  himself  shall  come  and  restore  all  things  to  more 
than  their  first  and  hoHest  purity  and  bliss.  And  besides, 
the  command  alone  is  the  encouragement  to  obey  it.  What- 
ever  Christ  commands  I  know  he  means  to  accomplish. 


MATTHEW  XXVIII.  413 

"We  are  very  often  prone  to  look^it  the  command  alone,  and 
hesitate,  as  if  it  were  impracticable ;  but  never  forget,  my 
dear  friends,  that  whoever  starts  to  obey  a  command  of 
Jesus  carries  with  him  the  elements  of  success.  He  who 
gives  the  command  guarantees  success  in  him  who  attempts 
to  obey  it.  And  if  he  has  told  you  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature,  do  it  in  person,  or  do  it  by  proxy,  but  do  it ; 
and  he  who  has  given  the  command  will  crown  the  attempt 
to  fulfil  it  with  an  abundant  and  increasing  benediction. 

But  notice  in  the  next  place,  that  whilst  we  are  thus  to 
discipleize  all  nations  by  baptizing  them,  we  are  to  teach 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  Christ  has  com- 
manded. First,  then,  there  is  here  preaching  or  proclama- 
tion of  the  glorious  tidings  of  the  finished  Sacrifice,  the 
perfect  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  very  first  truth 
that  a  Christian  minister  is  to  tell  his  people  is,  not  "  Do 
this,"  nor  "  Thou  shalt  do  that,"  but  that  Jesus  died  an 
Atonement  for  our  sins.  And  instead  of  this  being  a  doc- 
trine of  reserve  only  to  be  taught  the  initiated,  it  seems  to 
me,  judging  from  the  usage  of  the  sacred  penmen,  to  be  a 
doctrine  placed  in  the  very  fore-front  of  all  Christianity, 
and  that  we  are,  first  of  all,  to  announce  to  all  the  world 
that  Jesus  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures. 

But  it  is  not  simply  teaching  in  the  sense  of  preaching, 
but  it  is  teaching  in  the  sense  of  instructing.  What  used 
to  be  called  by  the  old  Scottish  Reformers  "  the  catechetical 
oflUce  of  the  Church,"  is  a  very  precious  one.  We  ought 
not  only  to  preach  an  eloquent  homily,  but  to  teach  cate- 
chetically  word  upon  word,  and  precept  upon  precept. 
And  hence,  I  regard  the  Exposition  of  the  chapter  as  the 
teaching  part,  and  the  Sermon  as  the  preaching  part  of  our 
service ;  and  I  have  understood  that  more  have  been  bene- 
fited within  these  walls  by  the  superficial,  but  yet  important 
Exposition  of  the  chapter  read,  than  by  the  best  sermons  I 
have  preached,  constructed  on  the  most  suggestive  and 
35* 


414  scriptukf:  readings. 

impressive  texts  ever  selected.  In  the  old  Scotch  Church 
there  was  a  doctor,  whose  duty  was  to  teach  catechetically^ 
and  the  pastor,  whose  duty  was  to  preach ;  and  I  am  not 
sure  that  our  Church  would  not  be  right,  if  it  were  so  con- 
stituted again.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  minister,  instead  of 
spending  his  time  on  Committees  in  hearing  the  reports  of 
Sick  Visiting  Societies,  does  much  better  for  the  cause  of 
Christ  and  for  the  instruction  of  his  people  by  sitting  in  his 
study,  and  pondering  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  coming 
forth  upon  the  Sunday  prepared  to  teach  them  things  new 
and  old.  The  pulpit  is  the  throne  of  power ;  preaching  is 
the  element  of  success ;  and  as  no  miracles  are  vouchsafed 
now,  except  Dr.  Newman's,  which  are  not  worth  having, 
our  only  course  is  to  use  the  means  which  God  in  his 
providence  has  given  us,  and  by  studying  and  prayer  and 
painstaking  to  come  forth  and  show  our  people  that  when 
they  come  to  the  house  of  God  there  is  something  worth 
listening  to,  when  the  minister  proclaims  to  them  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  Jesus. 

But  again,  in  this  passage  there  seems  to  be  also  the 
office  of  the  ministry  explained.  The  ministry  is,  "  Teach- 
ing them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you."  Then  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  not  to 
be  an  exalted  dignitary,  or  the  possessor  of  a  splendid  sine- 
cure ;  but,  he  is  to  be  a  working  man.  One  man  works 
with  his  hand,  as  the  carpenter  does ;  the  postman  works 
with  his  feet;  the  Christian  student  is  to  work  with  his 
brain ;  but  in  all  three  cases  we  are  working  men.  No  such 
thing  as  a  sinecure  in  the  Church  of  Christ  is  recognized  in 
the  Bible ;  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  were  the  highest  digni- 
taries, so  called,  to  come  down  and  be  the  humblest  City 
Missionaries,  they  would  gain  a  splendor  and  an  effect  not 
less  in  the  very  least  degree.  The  Christian  minister  is  to. 
go  and  teach.  If  I  were  to  borrow  the  allusion  of  a  splen- 
did speech  by  a  great  orator,  it  would  be,  translating  it  into 


MATTHEW    XXVIII.  415 

spiritual  things,  a  minister's  escutcheon  is  to  be  his  Bible 
only.  His  instructions  are  to  be  there ;  his  dignity,  his 
honor,  and  his  greatness  are  to  be  borrowed  from  his  theme, 
and  not  to  be  communicated  by  extrinsic  circumstances  of 
any  sort  whatever. 

Not  only  is  the  ministry  to  be  a  working  office,  but  it  is 
not  to  be  a  priesthood  at  all.  When  Jesus  instituted  the 
Christian  ministry,  there  is  not  a  single  word  about  sacri- 
fice, not  a  syllable  about  priesthood.  In  other  words,  min- 
isters are  to  go  and  preach  a  Sacrifice  completed,  not  to 
make  one ;  they  are  to  go  and  proclaim  the  virtues  of  an 
Atonement  finished,  not  to  go  and  attempt  an  atonement 
not  yet  begun.  If  you  will  open  the  Pontificale  Romanum, 
and  read  the  form  of  Ordination  of  a  Romish  priest,  you 
will  see  that  there  is  not  one  word  about  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel. There  is  put  in  his  hand  a  paten  for  holding  the  Com- 
munion bread,  and  a  cup  to  hold  the  Communion  wine,  and 
he  is  ordained  —  to  do  what  ?  Not  to  go  and  teach  all 
nations,  but  to  go  and  ofier  up  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
a  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  living  and  the 
dead.  Now  it  does  seem  to  me  that  to  accept  without  reor- 
dination  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  however  conscientious  his 
renunciation  of  his  errors  may  be,  as  a  minister  of  any 
branch  of  the  Protestant  Church,  is  altogether  an  erroneous 
practice ;  and  I  am  told  by^the  most  competent  scholars  of 
the  Church  of  England,  that  the  practice  of  receiving  con- 
verted priests  to  be  ministers  without  reordaining  them  is 
inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  that  Church.  I  am  glad  that 
it  is  so ;  I  am  only  sorry  that  the  practice  is  not  so.  A 
priest  of  the  Church  of  Rome  may  be  personally  a  saint,  he 
may  be  in  his  practice  a  true  Christian,  but  in  his  ordination 
and  his  office,  he  has  no  more  to  do  with  preaching  the 
Gospel  than  a  soldier,  a  sailor,  a  tradesman,  or  a  member 
of  Parliament  has.  He  is  not  appointed  for  that  office  at 
all,  but  for  something  totally  different.     The  grand  commis- 


416  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

sion  in  this  passage  is,  "  Go  and  discipleize  all  nations  by 
baptizing  them,  and  teaching  them  to  observe  all  thingsf 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you." 

But  mark  also  the  limit  of  a  minister's  teaching.  —  What 
is  he  to  teach  ?  Not  the  traditions  of  the  church,  not  the 
politics  of  Coesar,  not  questions  of  equivocal  importance; 
but  to  teach,  according  to  his  charter,  commission,  and  au- 
thority, "all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you." 
Then,  if  this  be  so,  there  must  be  some  record  of  it :  for 
how  can  I  preach  what  Christ  commanded,  unless  I  know 
it  ?  That  record,  the  Romanist  will  tell  me,  is  in  the 
Church.  Very  well,  I  do  not  mind  where  I  find  it,  pro- 
vided I  do  find  it.  But  if  the  Church  come  forward,  and 
say,  "  This  is  it,"  and  does  not  condescend  to  demonstrate 
that  it  is  it,  I  must  hesitate  before  I  accept  so  important  a 
charge  from  so  suspicious  a  source.  But  if  she  should  say, 
"  What  a  council  defines  is  truth,"  I  ask,  how  can  that  be  ? 
A  priest,  they  say,  is  as  fallible  as  a  layman,  as  also  is  a 
bishop ;  but  a  council,  they  tell  us,  is  infallible.  Then, 
will  any  person  acquainted  with  arithmetic  and  mathematics 
tell  me  how  three  hundred  fallibles  welded  together  can  be 
one  infallible  ?  If  all  the  elements  of  a  council  be  falHble, 
surely,  the  conjunction  of  all  those  elements  must  be  a  falli- 
bility also.  If  there  be  cause  and  effect,  if  there  be  pre- 
mises and  sequence,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  logic,  if  there  be 
any  laws  in  nature,  a  combination  of  fallibles  must  certainly 
result  in  a  fallible  conclusion ;  and  therefore,  I  will  not  go 
to  the  Synod,  nor  to  the  General  Council.  Then,  if  I  ask, 
"  Is  the  Pope  infallible  ?  Am  I  to  go  to  him  to  ascertain 
what  Christ  commanded  ? "  the  gaoler  of  the  Madiais  in 
Florence  will  answer,  •'  He  is  infallible ; "  but  if  I  go  across 
the  Channel  to  France,  and  ask  the  Archbishop  of  Paris 
the  same  question,  he  will  tell  me  that  the  Pope  is  fallible. 
Then,  how  am  I  to  tell  where  infallibility  rests,  since  they 
have  not  yet  decided  whether  it  be  in  Council  or  Pope  ? 


MATTHEW    XXVIII.  417 

Popes  have  infallibly  decided  that  councils  are  fallible,  and 
councils  have  infallibly  decided  that  popes  are  fallible. 
Where,  I  ask,  is  the  unity  in  this  discordia  discors,  which 
has  not  yet  settled  where  the  oracle  of  infallibility  at  this 
moment  is  lodged  ?  But  if  I  cannot  have  recourse  to  either . 
Council  or  Pope  to  ascertain  what  Christ  commanded,  shall 
I  have  recourse  to  tradition  ?  It  is  a  grievous  mistake  to 
say  we  are  opposed  to  tradition.  I  say,  prove  to  me  that 
the  least  or  the  weightiest  tradition  was  spoken  by  the  lips 
of  our  Lord,  or  was  preached  by,  or  proceeded  from  the  pen 
of,  an  apostle,  and  I  accept  it  just  as  I  accept  God's  infalli- 
ble Word.  I  do  not  object  to  tradition ;  I  only  object  to  a 
sham  tradition.  Prove  to  me  that  what  you  say  is  tradition 
is  the  inspiration  of  God,  and  I  accept;  but  should  you 
quarrel  with  me  if  I  refuse  to  accept  as  the  truth  of  God 
that  which  has  no  other  foundation  than  the  authority  or 
the  imagination  of  man  ?  We  have  evidence  that  tradition 
is  a  very  questionable  process  for  the  instruction  of  man- 
kind. The  antediluvians  for  2,000  years  before  the  Flood 
had  nothing  but  tradition ;  but  what  was  the  effect  of  it  ? 
Remember,  this  was  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances ; 
for  Adam  spoke  to  Methuselah,  and  Methuselah  conversed 
with  Noah,  so  that  there  were  only  three  links  from  Adam 
in  Paradise  to  Noah  in  the  Ark  ;  therefore,  if  ever  tradition 
had  a  chance  of  being  vindicated  as  a  vehicle  of  perfect 
truth,  it  was  in  the  days  before  the  Flood ;  but  what  was 
the  result  ?  That  all  flesh  had  corrupted  its  w^ay,  and  that 
a  mere  handful  had  retained  the  truth,  and  practised  the 
prescriptions  of  the  Gospel.  And  a  very  striking  evidence 
of  the  small  value  of  tradition  is  given  at  the  close  of  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John :  "  Peter  seeing  John  saith  to  Jesus, 
Lord,  what  shall  this  man  do  ?  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  If 
I  will"  —  not,  "I  will,"  but  "If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I 
come,  what  is  that  to  thee?  follow  thou  me."  Now  that  is 
the  original  truth,  but  mark  the  reverberation  of  it  in  the 


418  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

shape  of  tradition  :  "  Then  went  this  saying "  —  that  is, 
tradition  — "  abroad  among  the  brethren,  that  that  disciple 
should  not  die."  Now  observe,  in  the  course  of  a  single 
year  the  remark  of  Jesus,  "  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I 
come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ?  "  became  so  distorted  that  "  the 
tradition  went  abroad  among  the  brethren,  that  that  disciple 
should  not  die."  But  mark  how  holy  Scripture  comes  in  to 
correct  such  tradition :  "  Yet  Jesus  said  not  unto  him,  He 
shall  not  die ;  but.  If  I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what 
is  that  to  thee  ?  "  Here  then  you  have  a  truth  distorted, 
and  Scripture  coming  in  to  correct  and  put  right  that  distor- 
tion. The  fact  is,  traditions  that  have  originated  with  man 
have  been  adverse  to  the  truth  in  every  instance.  The 
word  of  man  alone  is  scepticism ;  the  word  of  God  and 
man  mingled  is  superstition;  the  word  of  God  alone  is 
truth.  A  tradition  starts  in  the  shape  of  a  beautiful  truth. 
It  begins  like  the  snow  on  the  mountain  top  in  its  virgin 
purity  and  whiteness;  it  rolls  down  the  mountain,  and 
gathers  as  it  goes  all  sorts  of  heterogeneous  materials  — 
wood,  hay,  straw,  and  stubble  —  till  the  huge  mass  in  the 
valley  below  is  as  unlike  the  snow  that  started  from  the 
mountain  top  as  darkness  is  to  light,  or  as  any  thing  is  to  its 
greatest  opposite. 

But  we  have  a  record  ;  the  Bible  is  it.  All  things  what- 
soever Christ  has  commanded  are  in  his  holy  Word ;  and  if 
an  angel,  or  any  other  person,  preach  what  is  not  contained 
therein,  let  him  be  anathema. 

But  notice  that  this  command  was  addressed  to  the  univer- 
sal Church  —  not  to  the  apostles  only,  but  to  all  the  brethren 
who  were  there  assembled.  One  of  the  best  proofs  that  it 
was  so  addressed  to  all  is  the  resulting  fact.  We  read  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  that  when  the  brethren  were  persecuted, 
those  Christians  who  were  scattered  abroad,  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  Gospel.  Now,  whilst  the  office  of  the  min- 
istry is  most  proper,  and  the  maintenance  of  an  order  of 


MATTHEW    XXVIIT.  419 

men  who  shall  give  their  whole  time  to  study  and  preaching 
the  truth  is  most  constitutional  and  Scriptural,  yet  I  can 
prove  that  in  the  primitive  Church  the  laity  and  the  minis- 
ters together  went  preaching  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ.  Many  of  our  Tractarian  friends  would  be  aston- 
ished, if  they  should  happen  to  hear  it,  that  in  the  first  three 
centuries  of  the  Christian  Church  nothing  was  more  common 
than  for  the  bishop,  as  he  was  then  called  —  for  all  ministers 
then  were  called  bishops  —  when  he  ascended  into  the  pul- 
pit, and  saw  in  the  congregation  a  pious  and  a  gifted  layman, 
to  beckon  to  him,  and  bid  him  come  up  into  the  pulpit,  and 
address  the  people.  Now  this  is  Patristic  precedent ;  this 
was  the  practice  of  the  ante-Nicene  Church.  Those  there- 
fore who  refer  to  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era  for  their  rites,  I  hope,  will  not  forget  that  important  one  ; 
and  I  shall  believe  that  the  Tractarian  minister  has  become 
truly  Patristic  and  Apostolical,  when  I  find  him  coming  down 
from  his  pulpit,  and  asking  a  Christian  layman  to  preach  the 
sermon,  which,  I  venture  to  say,  would  be  more  likely  to  be 
instructive  than  any  that  he  could  preach  in  his  present  state 
of  mind  from  the  same  place. 

But  again,  I  notice  that  this  applies  to  the  pupil  as  well 
as  the  teacher ;  for  it  is,  "  Teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you ; "  and  then  He 
adds,  "  I  am  with  you  to  the  end  of  the  world."  'The  teach- 
ing them  transfers  and  elevates  "  them  "  into  "  you  ;  "  and 
then  the  promise  of  his  presence  is  with  the  "  them  "  mixed 
with  the  "  you  "  to  the  end  of  the  world.  "  Teaching  them 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded,"  not  them,  but  "  you  ; "  and 
then  He  says,  "  I  am  with  the  combined  party,  the  pupil 
who  has  been  taught,  and  the  preacher  who  teaches  him, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Again,  you  will  notice  here  that  the  mode  of  appointing 
a  ministry  is  not  at  all  specified,  whilst  the  existence  of  a 
teaching  ministry  is  clearly  enough  indicated.     Go,  disciple- 


420  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

izing,  baptizing,  teaching.  But  just  as  baptism  is  left  with- 
out a  single  hint  whether  it  should  be  immersion  or  sprink- 
ling, whether  it  relates  to  young  or  old,  but  the  indication 
that  it  is  not  teaching  in  order  to  baptism,  but  baptism  in 
order  to  teaching ;  so  here  the  mode  of  appointing  a  Chris- 
tian ministry,  whether  by  the  patron,  the  people,  the  pres- 
bytery, or  the  bishop,  is  latitudinarian,  but  the  existence  of 
a  ministry  of  some  sort  is  clearly  indicated.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  is  not  the  least  warrant  for  the  notion  of 
what  is  called  the  Apostolical  succession.  Jesus  does  not  say, 
"  Go  and  transfer  to  others  your  virtues  and  prerogatives ; " 
but  he  says,  "  Go  and  teach  all  nations ;  and  I  am  with  you 
to  the  end  of  the  w^orld  ; "  contemplating  a  succession  of 
teachers,  but  not  demanding  that  they  shall  have  the  very 
same  powers  and  prerogatives  that  the  apostles  had.  I  hold 
that  apostolical  succession  is  historically  untrue,  is  scrip- 
turally  absurd,  and  is  experimentally  a  sham  ;  for  what  were 
the  prerogatives  of  an  apostle  ?  To  heal  the  sick,  to  raise 
the  dead,  and  to  speak  in  tongues.  If  you  have  that  suc- 
cession, show  that  you  have  it  by  doing  the  miracles  that 
they  did ;  and  then  I  will  believe  in  apostolical  succession. 
But  if  you  claim  to  have  an  apostolical  succession  without 
apostolical  powers  ;  if  you  claim  to  have  an  apostle's  mantle 
without  an  apostle's  virtues ;  if  you  claim  an  apostle's  name, 
but  are  incompetent  to  do  an  apostle's  deeds;  then  your 
assumption  is  a  pretence,  and  your  apostolical  succession  is  a 
delusion  and  a  deceit. 

Jesus  then  promisesj  his  presence  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
What  am  I  to  understand  by  that  presende?  It  cannot 
mean  that  Jesus  is  bodily  present  with  his  Church  till  the 
end  of  the  world.  The  Scripture  clearly  asserts  that  the 
heavens  must  contain  him  till  the  restitution  of  all  things. 
The  Scripture  clearly  commands  us  to  look  for  him.  He 
himself  has  said,  "  Me  ye  have  not  always."  How  mon- 
strous, therefore,  it  is  in  the  Romish  Cardinal  in  this  city  to 


BIATTHEW  XXVIII.  421 

be  preaching  in  one  of  the  chapels  of  his  pretended  diocese, 
that  Christ  is  present  on  the  altar,  and  that  only  where  tran- 
substantiation  is  believed  is  Christ  personally  present !  How 
can  be  bodily  here,  if  he  be  bodily  yonder  ?  What  did  he 
the  angel  say  in  the  very  chapter  from  which  my  text  is 
taken  ?  "  He  is  not  here,  for  he  is  risen."  That  very  state- 
ment implied  that  Jesus  had  a  true  body,  and  that  he  could 
not  be  here  bodily  and  there  bodily  at  the  same  moment. 
Again,  the  promise  cannot  denote  that  he  will  be  present  in 
the  sense  of  his  essential  Deity;  for  in  that  sense  he  fills  all 
the  palaces  of  God ;  in  that  sense  he  orders  the  angels,  and 
ministers  to  believers ;  in  that  sense  he  is  in  the  smallest 
molecule  of  matter,  and  in  the  largest  star  that  moves  obe- 
dient to  his  touch.  Therefore,  it  must  indicate  a  special 
presence,  which  is  alluded  to  by  Moses  when  he  says,  "  If 
thy  presence  carry  us  not  up  thither,  let  us  not  go  hence." 
God's  Omnipresence  must  have  been  with  Moses,  as  well  as 
with  Pharoah ;  it  must  mean,  therefore,  his  special  presence, 
which  presence  is  also  alluded  to  by  our  Lord,  when  he  says, 
"  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." 

But  he  promises  here,  not  only  to  be  with  the  teachers, 
but  with  all  the  Christian  people.  The  life  of  the  vine  is 
the  sap  in  its  branches  ;  and  wherever  there  is  a  heart 
quickened  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  there 
there  is  a  monument  of  the  presence,  and  a  proof  of  the 
nearness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  the  midst  of  his  own 
believing  people. 

Notice  again,  that  the  first  thing  is,  "  Teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  ; "  and 
the  next  thing  is,  Christ's  promise  of  his  perpetual  presence. 
Now,  just  open  any  book  that  discusses  the  apostolical  suc- 
cession, or  treats  largely  upon  the  presence  of  Christ  with 
the  ministry,  and  you  will  find  that  this  passage  is  constantly 
quoted  thus :  "  I  am  with  you  always ;  therefore,  priests 
30 


422  SCRIPTURE    READINGS. 

cannot  err."  But  Christ's  presence  is  conditional.  He  says, 
"  I  will  be  with  you,  if  you  teach  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you."  It  is  not,  "  I  am  with  you  ;  therefore,  if  you 
open  your  mouth,  truth  will  be  enunciated ; "  but,  "  Preach 
truth,  and  you  will  have  a  divine  presence,  which  is  power. 
I  am  with  you,  if  you  preach  my  Gospel ;  but  if  you  do  not, 
then  I  am  not  with  you."  To  lay  hold  upon  the  promise 
without  teaching  the  truth,  which  is  the  condition  of  it,  is  for 
the  workman  to  seize  the  wages  without  doing  the  work,  for 
the  racer  to  seize  the  prize  without  running  the  race,  for  the 
husbandman  to  gather  the  sheaves  without  sowing  the  seed. 
It  is  an  absurdity  —  an  impossibility. 

And  then  he  says,  "  I  am  with  you  all  days  "  —  it  is  not 
"  always,"  but  it  is,  literally  translated,  "  I  am  with  you  all 
the  days  unto  the  conclusion  of  the  age  " —  awreMag  tov  aObvog. 
Thus,  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  to  preach  all  days,  in 
cold  and  in  sunshine,  in  days  that  may  be  few,  or  days  that 
may  be  many.  The  number  of  the  days  rests  not  with  us ; 
the  nature  of  the  days  we  have  nothing  to  do  with ;  it  is  our 
duty  in  all  weathers  and  in  all  times  and  circumstances  to 
preach  the  glorious  Gospel.  In  the  fires  of  martyrdom,  or 
amid  the  sunshine  of  royal  patronage  —  wherever  you  are, 
preach  all  things,  says  the  Saviour,  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  always. 

And  you  are  to  do  this,  not  till  the  end  of  the  world  —  the 
earth  is  not  to  be  annihilated  —  but  till  "the  end  of  the 
dispensation,"  that  is,  till  the  Millennium  comes ;  and  when 
it  comes,  then  all  tears  shall  be  wiped  away,  all  ministry 
shall  cease,  all  sacraments  shall  be  ended.  Faith  shall  be 
lost  in  fruition ;  hope  shall  be  merged  in  having ;  promise 
shall  brighten  into  performance ;  the  earth  shall  cease  its 
groans,  and  creation  shall  cease  its  travail. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say,  first,  Christ  is  God,  or  how 
can  he  be  present  with  his  Church  till  the  end  of  the  world  ? 
Secondly,  the  true  Church  never  is  in  danger ;  it  shall  last 


MATTHEW    XXVIII.  423 

till  the  end,  because  it  is  sustained  by  a  Divine  presence. 
And  thirdly,  let  us  trust  in  that  presence,  and  pray  for  its 
enjoyment.  Let  us  not  trust  in  imaginary  succession,  or  in 
the  privileges  or  prerogatives,  real  or  imaginary,  of  a 
Church  ;  but  feel  that  as  long  as  we  preach  the  things  that 
Jesus  commanded,  so  long  he  will  be  with  us ;  and  longer 
than  that  it  is  not  desirable  that  he  should  be  with  us.  Let 
the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  cease  to  speak  about  itself;  let  it 
but  look  more  to  the  blessing  of  its  Lord,  and  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  its  commission ;  and  Christ  will  bless  it,  and  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth  will  praise  him. 


Note.  —It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  Lord's  words,  as  in  the  Church, 
the  progress  of  ordinary  discipleship  is  from  baptism  to  instruction,  — 
that  is,  is  admission  in  infancy  to  the  covenant,  and  growing  up  into 
TTjpelv  ndvTa  k.  r.  ?i.  —  the  exception  being,  what  circumstances  ren- 
dered so  frequent  in  tbe  early  Church,  instruction  before  baptism,  in 
the  case  of  adults.  On  this  Ave  may  also  remark,  that  baptism  as 
known  to  the  Jews  included,  just  as  it  does  in  the  Acts  (ch.  xvi.  15, 
33),  whole  households,  — wives  and  children.  As  regards  the  com- 
mand itself,  no  unprejudiced  reader  can  doubt  that  it  regards  the  out- 
ward rite  of  baptism,  so  well  known  in  this  Gospel  as  having  been 
practised  by  John  and  received  by  the  Lord  himself. 

In  these  words,  inasmuch  as  the  then  living  disciples  could  not 
teach  all  nations,  does  the  Lord  found  the  office  as  preachers  in  His 
Church,  with  all  that  belongs  to  it,  — the  duties  of  the  minister,  the 
school  teacher,  the  scripture  reader.  "  The  teaching  "  is  not  merely 
the  Kf/pvyfia  of  the  Gospel,  — not  mere  proclamation  of  the  good  news, 
but  the  whole  catechetical  office  of  the  Church  upon  and  in  the  baptized. 

The  command  is  to  the  universal  Church,  to  be  performed  in  the 
nature  of  things  by  her  ministers  and  teachers,  the  manner  of  appoint- 
ing which  is  not  here  prescribed,  but  to  be  learnt  in  the  unfoldings  of 
Providence,  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  who,  by  his  special 
ordinance,  were  the  founders  and  first  builders  of  that  church,  but 
whose  office  on  that  very  account  precluded  the  idea  of  succession,  or 
renewal. — Alford. 


DATE  DUE 

]V[q»^&^ 

CAYLORD 

PRINTED  INU.S. A. 

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